Microwave chemical route to self-assembled quasi-spherical Cu2O microarchitectures and their gas-sensing properties

Novel self-assembled quasi-spherical cuprous oxide (Cu2O) microarchitectures with rough surface are produced by a facile microwave chemical route without any template or surfactant. The reaction temperature and concentration of Cu2+ play important roles to the morphology of the final products. For explaining the growth process, a possible “nucleate-ripen-split-self-assemble” mechanism is proposed. The gas-sensing properties of the as-synthesized self-assembled Cu2O microstructures are investigated in detail. The results indicate that the quasi-spherical Cu2O microstructures exhibit superior response to ethanol vapor and H2S, as well as short response/recovery times and good reproducibility.