Fabrication of Diverse Cu2O Nanoframes through Face-Selective Etching

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C Vol. 117; no. 46; pp. 24611 - 24617
• Main Authors: Tsai, Ya-Huei, Chiu, Chun-Ya, Huang, Michael H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Columbus, OH American Chemical Society 21.11.2013
• Subjects: Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Physics; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Cubic lattices; Ethanol; Light scattering; Color; Etching reagent; Surfactants; Nanoframe; Crystallographic plane; Near infrared radiation; Growth mechanism; Selective etching; Recording material; Crystal faces; Nanostructured materials; Sodium compounds; Nanocrystal; Crystal structure
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/jp4088018

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.