Controlled morphologies of copper oxide single crystalline nanostructures by wet chemistry and thermal decomposition processes

A wet-chemical method to synthesize CuO nanocubes (0D), nanorods (1D) and nanosheets (2D) is demonstrated with using Cu(OAc)2 as an inorganic precursor and triethylammine as a basic source in the presence of tetraoctylammonium bromide in a H2O–C2H5OH mixed-solvent. We found that the nanocubes spontaneously self-assembled into nanorods that could further self-assemble into nanosheets via oriented attachment of the nanorods. Based on the structural characterization, we found that the CuO nanosheets grow primarily along the [0 1 0] direction. A single phase of CuO nanostructures was observed. Another simple thermal decomposition method was also developed to prepare monodispersed single crystalline CuO nanocubes controlled by the decomposition of the inorganic Cu(OAc)2 precursor with triethylammine and TOAB in H2O–C2H5OH solution on a Si wafer and indium tin oxide conducting glass. The composition of the CuO was further confirmed by XRD and XPS analyses.