1 research outputs found
Synthesis of Copper Hydroxide Branched Nanocages and Their Transformation to Copper Oxide
Copper oxide nanostructures have
been explored in the literature for their great promise in the areas
of energy storage and catalysis, which can be controlled based on
their shape. Herein we describe the synthesis of complex branched
nanocages of copper hydroxide with an alternating stacked morphology.
The size of the nanocages’ core and the length of the branches
can be controlled by the temperature and ratio of surfactant used,
varying the length from 85 to 232 nm long, and varying the core size
from 240 to 19 nm. The nanostructures’ unique morphology forms
by controlling the growth of an initial spherical seed, and the crystallization
of the anisotropic arms. The CuÂ(OH)<sub>2</sub> nanostructures can
be converted to polycrystalline CuO branched nanocages and Cu<sub>2</sub>O nanoframes. We show that the branched nanocage morphology
of CuO has markedly superior catalytic properties to previous reports
with CuO nanomaterials, resulting in a rapid and efficient catalyst
for C–S coupling