Fabrication of Diverse Cu₂O Nanoframes through Face-Selective Etching

Abstract

Two approaches have been employed to generate Cu2O nanoframes. Novel edge-truncated cubic nanoframes with empty {110} edges can be obtained directly by growing Cu2O nanocrystals in the presence of HCl etchant. After 1 h of reaction for particle growth, introduction of ethanol and sonication of the mixture effectively removes surface-adsorbed sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant to facilitate HCl etching. Crystal structures of the nanoframes have been examined. The entire nanoframe formation process was captured by recording the complete solution color changes. By injecting precise volumes of HCl solution to a solution of presynthesized {100}-truncated and all-corner-truncated Cu2O rhombic dodecahedra, nanoframes with etched {110} faces and hollow interior were produced in 10 min. Observations made on some partially etched particles suggest etching rapidly proceeds from the surface {110} faces into the interior regions of the rhombic dodecahedra. The strong light scattering feature observed for solid rhombic dodecahedra extending from the visible to the near-infrared regions largely disappears after their transformation into nanoframes.

Facet-Dependent Surface Plasmon Resonance Properties of Au-Cu2O Core-Shell Nanocubes, Octahedra, and Rhombic Dodecahedra

“…Previously, Cu 2 O crystals have been shown to exhibit strongly facet‐dependent photocatalytic, organocatalytic, and electrical conductivity properties . Face‐selective etching and molecular adsorption on Cu 2 O particles has also been demonstrated . Recently, it was found that even the optical properties of Cu 2 O nanocrystals are facet‐dependent through spectral examination of Au–Cu 2 O core–shell nanocubes, cuboctahedra, and octahedra .…”

Surface-Controlled Photocatalysis and Chemical Sensing of TiO2, α-Fe2O3, and Cu2O Nanocrystals

“…This is due to the strong interaction between the oxygen and/or nitrogen atoms of PVP and {111} facets. In many papers, the use of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a capping reagent has been reported [138,[143][144][145][146], however the mechanism of its selective adsorption is unclear. Its properties are supposed to be similar to those of AOT [147].…”

“…Therefore, to obtain a specific form, a reducing agent is used, the most popular being: glucose [139][140][141]149], ascorbic acid (AA) [16,76,142,150] and hydroxylamine hydrochloride (NH 2 OH*HCl) [138,143,144] or hydrazine [90].…”

A surfactant free synthesis and formation mechanism of hollow Cu2O nanocubes using Cl− ions as the morphology regulator

“…So far, the synthetic strategies for hollow nanomaterials are mainly based on the application of various templates, including hard templates, so templates and self-sacricial templates. 6,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] In the previous reports, hollow Cu 2 O nanostructures were mostly formed in the presence of surfactants, which play a so template-like role in the formation of hollow structure. In contrast, the self-sacricial template based methods are more ideal to prepare hollow nanomaterials as the templates nally convert into the products.…”