Surface charge driven growth of eight-branched Cu2O Crystals
Abstract
Cu2O crystals are synthesised hydrothermally with an 8-branched morphology, which can undergo a transition to a cubic shape by increasing the reaction time. The rapid branch formation of these structures is studied over time using SEM, TEM, SAED, PXRD and TGA. The formation of Cu2+/PVP soft matter clusters is shown to play a key role in the reduction of Cu2+, the nucleation of Cu2O crystals and the rapid growth of branches along all eight equivalent <111> directions of the cubic Cu2O struc- ture, due to the presence of negatively charged hydroxyl sites on the {111} surfaces. This non-classical crystal growth mechanism, which relies on aggregation of the precursor on the crystal surface, may help us to understand the formation of many abnormal crystal morphologies.
Citation
Self , K & Zhou , W 2016 , ' Surface charge driven growth of eight-branched Cu 2 O Crystals ' , Crystal Growth & Design , vol. 16 , no. 9 , pp. 5377-5384 . https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6b00883
Publication
Crystal Growth & Design
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1528-7483Type
Journal article
Description
KS would like to thank the University of St Andrews for the studentship, WZZ thanks EPSRC for the financial support to purchase the FEG SEM (EP/F019580/1).Collections
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