Binary tellurium oxides

Tellurium is a constituent common to several definite compounds having semiconducting properties which can be obtained by electrolytic deposition (e.g. CdTe, ZnTe,...). The low solubility of tellurium oxide in acidic aqueous solutions explains why its kinetics of electrodeposition, in the binary of tertiary alloys involved, is mainly controlled by mass transport. 

The chalcogenides are binary compounds of a chalcogen (i.e., the elements of Group Ilb zinc, cadmium, mercury) with a less electropositive element, such as those of Group VIb (oxygen, sulfur, selenium, and tellurium). This section covers the sulfides, selenides, andtellurides. Oxides are reviewed above in Ch. 11. Most of the chalcogenides have useful optical characteristics and their applications are usually found in optics. 

The chemical properties of selenium fall between sulfur and tellurium. Thus, selenium reacts with oxygen similarly to sulfur, forming two oxides, selenium dioxide, Se02 and trioxide, SeOs. The metal combines with halogens forming their halides. With nonmetals, selenium forms binary compounds exhibiting oxidation states +4 and -i-6. 

In the 1960s, a number of binary oxides, including molybdenum, tellurium, and antimony, were found to be active for the reactions and some of them were actually used in commercial reactors. Typical commercial catalysts are Fe-Sb-O by Nitto Chemical Ind. Co. (62 -64) and U-Sb-O by SOHIO (65-67), and the former is still industrially used for the ammoxidation of propylene after repeated improvements. Several investigations were reported for the iron-antimony (68-72) and antimony-uranium oxide catalysts (73-75), but more investigations were directed at the bismuth molybdate catalysts. The accumulated investigations for these simple binary oxide catalysts are summarized in the preceding reviews (5-8). 

The structure of a highly active cerium-molybdenum-tellurium acrylonitrile catalyst(l ) has previously been described in terms of binary (Ce,Mo)0 and ternary (Ce,Mo,Te)0 phases( ). It was concluded that none of the constituent oxides (CeO, ... 

Binary compounds can be made with uranium. Such solids state compounds have been investigated because they have interesting magnetic properties. They are made by direct interaction with uranium metal. Oxides mainly form with the general formula UO2, UjOg, UO2. The metal also reacts with other elements such as boron, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and arsenic to make semi-metallic solids. Compounds can also be made using silicon, sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. Urinates can be formed by the addition of uranium with alkali and alkaline Earth metals. 

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