Web Release Date: February 28,
Facile Electrochemical Synthesis of Single-Crystalline Copper Nanospheres, Pyramids, and Truncated Pyramidal Nanoparticles from Lithia/Cuprous Oxide Composite Thin Films
and
Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials and Devices, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P. R. China, and Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33174
Received: January 4, 2008
Abstract:
We developed a facile electrochemical charge-discharge method to synthesize single-crystalline Cu nanoparticles with different morphologies by using a Li-driven electrochemical reduction process. Three-dimensional reticular Li2O/Cu2O composite thin films were fabricated on both Ni foam substrates and Cu foil substrates using the electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) technique. Cu nanospheres (on Ni foam substrate) and pyramid-like Cu particles (on Cu foil substrate) can be successfully produced with a high yield by fully discharging the assembly of three-dimensional reticular Li2O-Cu2O /Li electrochemical cells. It was demonstrated that the shape and size of copper nanoparticles could be controlled systematically by adjusting cycle numbers and the electrode substrate materials. In addition, a mechanistic consideration of the size control and shape formation is briefly discussed.
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