Potassium telluride


Potassium telluride is an inorganic compound with a chemical formula K2Te. It is formed from potassium and tellurium, making it a telluride.Brigitte Eisenmann, Herbert Schäfer: K2Te3 : The First Binary Alkali-Metal Polytelluride with Te2−3-Ions. In: Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English. 17, 1978, S. 684,. Potassium telluride is a white powder. Like rubidium telluride and caesium telluride, it can be used as an ultraviolet detector in space. Its crystal structure is similar to other tellurides, which have an anti-fluorite structure.

Production

Tellurium will react with melting potassium cyanide producing potassium telluride. It can also be produced by direct combination of potassium and tellurium, usually in liquid ammonia solvent:

Reactions

Adding potassium telluride to water and letting the filtrate stand in air leads to an oxidation reaction that generates potassium hydroxide and elemental tellurium: