Room temperature synthesis of Cu2O nanocubes and nanoboxes

Monodisperse Cu2O nanocubes are synthesized by reducing freshly prepared Cu(OH)2 with N2H4·H2O in water at room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations show that most of these nanocubes are uniform in size, with the average edge length of ∼500 nm. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) investigation reveals that these nanocubes are single crystalline. Further, Cu2O nanoboxes are obtained by etching Cu2O nanocubes with acetic acid solution at room temperature. The nanoboxes retain the size and external morphology of the nanocubes.