Patterning of nanostructured cuprous oxide by surfactant-assisted electrochemical deposition

In this paper, we systemically studied the evolution rules of morphologies of the extraordinary patterns including the flowerlike patterns of nanostructured cuprous oxide, which were synthesized by electrochemical deposition from a mixed solution of surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate and copper sulfate, as well as that of the mesostructure along with the variation of the content of the SDS surfactant. The evolution of morphology was observed as follows: with the increment of surfactant, the morphologies of the deposited cuprous oxide were evolved from that with crystalline to noncrystalline characteristics. Concretely, as the surfactant increases, the crystalline face of the deposited crystal was initially sunken and then vanished. Consequently, the crystalline angles vanished; and finally the orientation of crystalline axis vanished too. Also, the rotational symmetry of patterns was replaced by the radial symmetry., Moreover, the templating effect of surfactant additives was employed to acquire different mesoscopic structured growth units that also affect the macroscopic shape and microscopic order of the cuprous oxide. On the basis of the combination of self-assembly analysis and interfacial dynamics, the reason for formatting interesting and unusual patterns, such as flower patterns of nanostructured cuprous oxide, was explained. In particular, the formation can be rationalized by the modulation of electric field as an immaterial template which determins the macroscopic shape along with the assistance of surfactant self-assembly in molding the nanoscale structures.