Potassium telluride is an

inorganic compound In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...

with a chemical formula K₂Te. It is formed from

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...

and

tellurium Tellurium is a chemical element with the symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionally fou ...

, 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 Anti may refer to: *Anti-, a prefix meaning "against" *Änti, or Antaeus, a half-giant in Greek and Berber mythology *A false reading of ''Nemty'', the name of the ferryman who carried Isis to Set's island in Egyptian mythology * Áńt’į, or ...

fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs sca ...

structure.

Production

Tellurium Tellurium is a chemical element with the symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionally fou ...

will react with melting

potassium cyanide Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline salt, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications includ ...

(KCN) producing potassium telluride. It also can produced by direct combination of potassium and tellurium, usually in liquid ammonia solvent: :

\mathrm

Reactions

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

\mathrm

References

# Sangester J. and Pelton AD; ''Journal of Phase Equilibria'', 1997, 18(4) p. 394. {{tellurium compounds Potassium compounds Tellurides Fluorite crystal structure