Title: Crystallisation of cuprous oxide

Authors: Kunfeng Chen; Dongfeng Xue

Addresses: State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Renmin Street No.5625, Changchun 130022, China; School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China. ' State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Renmin Street No.5625, Changchun 130022, China; School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China

Abstract: In this paper, we briefly review the recent research on crystallisation of cuprous oxide (Cu₂O). Cu₂O is an important semiconductor with cubic crystal structure and many applications in solar cell, catalysis, sensor, photonic crystals, etc. {100}, {111} and {110} surface structures of Cu₂O are very important for controlling crystallisation. Different synthetic methods such as oxidation and reduction methods, together with different experimental parameters, size- and shape-controlled Cu₂O crystals are summarised. The mechanisms underlying the crystallisation of Cu₂O crystals are also highlighted. Our current work shows that Cu₂O is a good model material to study crystallisation of inorganic materials.

Keywords: crystallisation; cuprous oxide; synthesis method; size control; morphology control; nanocrystals; nanotechnology; inorganic materials.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2013.050875

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2013 Vol.10 No.1/2, pp.4 - 12

Published online: 07 Dec 2012 *

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