Tellurium (Te) was discovered in 1783 by Baron Franz Josef Müller von Reichenstein in Sibiu, Roumania. Tellurium is a silvery-white, metallic-looking in bulk, but is usually obtained as a dark grey powder. It is a semi-metal. Tellurium burns in air or oxygen, is unaffected by water or HCl, but dissolves in HNO3. It is used in alloys to improve machinability, in electronics, and in catalysts.
      Tellurium has p-type semiconductor properties and, hence, is used in the electronics industry. Tellurium compounds (tellurides) are semiconducting materials and used for photoreceptors in solar cells. Te is also used in the refining of zinc where it eliminates cobalt from the process. Contact with either the pure metal or its compounds is to be avoided as they are not only toxic, but inhalation of the vapours leads to unpleasant body odours !

<<<Back