Formation of various morphologies of copper sulfides by a solvothermal method

Copper sulfides, such as Cu2S, Cu31S16, Cu1.8S and Cu7S4, in the shapes of flower-, ball-like and irregular architectures congregated from much smaller spherical particles and nanoslices have been prepared by a solvothermal method without using any surfactants. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy techniques. A systematic investigation has been carried out to understand the factors, such as the composition of the solvent and the experimental temperature, influencing the structure and bulk phase and the morphology of the samples. The results showed that the water content in the solvent and the experimental temperature controlled the crystal structure and morphology. Possible crystal growth process was also discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.