Beryllium telluride (BeTe) is a chemical compound
whose molecular weight is 136.6122 g/mol. Its CAS
number is 12232-27-8 and it has a density of 5.12 g/
cm3. Its structure is one of the sphalerite cF8 group
with a space group of F43m (#216). It is a crystalline solid
with face-centered symmetry, a = 5.615 ? at 300 K.
It can be prepared by heating the elements together in
an inert atmosphere:
Be+ Te+ heat ? BeTe
Te melts at 450°C and Be melts at 1287°C. A heating
temperature of 750°C is sufficient to cause complete
reaction. BeTe is a crystalline solid with the lattice
constant of 0.5615 nm. It is a semiconductor with a large
energy gap of around 3 eV. Toxicity is unknown, but
both beryllium and tellurium are toxic. Toxic H2Te gas
is evolved on exposure to water.
