Eur. Phys. J. B (2012) 85: 221
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2012-20853-4

Regular Article

Ta₄FeTe₄: a new material for metallic single molecular wires

Institut für Anorganische Chemie und Analytische Chemie Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Duesbergweg 10-14, 55099 Mainz, Germany

^a e-mail: tremel@uni-mainz.de

Received: 19 October 2011
Published online: 27 June 2012

Abstract

Bulk Ta₄FeTe₄ is a highly anisotropic metallic compound consisting of single molecular wires. In the crystalline bulk phase, sub-nanometer wires self-assemble to form a hexagonal packing of rods resulting in a fibrous crystal morphology. In this work we report the synthesis and crystal growth of single crystalline Ta₄FeTe₄ nanowire bundles with a length of several millimeters and an aspect ratio exceeding  > 10⁵. The nanowire bundle diameter could further be decreased by intercalation-exfoliation. Our results show that depending on the unbundling method nanowires of different length and diameter are accessible. A complete unbundling to single molecular wires of 7.9 Å is feasible with this methodology. As the Ta₄FeTe₄ nanowires are held together only by van der Waals interactions the properties of single molecular wires may be expected similar to those of the metallic bulk material.