Facile synthesis of flowerlike Cu2O nanoarchitectures by a solution phase route

Novel flowerlike nanostructures consisting of Cu2O nanopetals were successfully synthesized by a facile wet chemical method for the first time. The synthesized products were systematically studied by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the nucleation and growth of the nanoflowers were governed by a nucleation-dissolution-recrystallization growth mechanism. It is noteworthy that the initially formed Cu2O nanoparticles without addition of NaOH were crucial to the growth of the final nanoarchitectures. A UV-vis spectrum was used to estimate the band gap energies of the nanoflowers. Further control experiments were also carried out to investigate the factors that impact the morphology and size of the products. It was demonstrated that the concentrations of NaOH and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) play key roles in the formation of the as-synthesized nanoflowers. By adjusting the concentration of NaOH and CTAB, temperature, and the quantity of water, Cu2O micrograss, nanorods, and pricky microrods can be synthesized accordingly. Our stepwise synthetic method may shed some light on the design of other well-defined complex nanostructures.