Hydrogen peroxide-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of hierarchical CuO flower-like nanostructures

Hierarchical CuO nanostructures were synthesized through a hydrogen peroxide-assisted hydrothermal route in which Cu(OH)(2) was the copper source. The CuO nanostructures were composed of numerous nanobelts that radiated from the center of the nanostructure and formed a flower-like shape with a diameter of 5-10 mu m. The nanobelts had lengths of 2.5-5 mu m and widths of 150-200 nm. The H(2)O(2) concentration directly influenced the product morphology. As the concentration of H(2)O(2) increased, the length and width of the nanobelts increased and the quantity of the nanobelts decreased. The possible formation mechanism of hierarchical CuO flower-like nanostructures was presented. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.