Nunes, D., L. Santos, P. Duarte, A. Pimentel, J. V. Pinto, P. Barquinha, P. A. Carvalho, E. Fortunato, and R. Martins,
"Room Temperature Synthesis of Cu2O Nanospheres: Optical Properties and Thermal Behavior",
Microscopy and Microanalysis, vol. 21, issue 01, pp. 11, 2015.
AbstractThe present work reports a simple and easy wet chemistry synthesis of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanospheres at room temperature without surfactants and using different precursors. Structural characterization was carried out by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy coupled with focused ion beam and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The optical band gaps were determined from diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photoluminescence behavior of the as-synthesized nanospheres showed significant differences depending on the precursors used. The Cu2O nanospheres were constituted by aggregates of nanocrystals, in which an on/off emission behavior of each individual nanocrystal was identified during transmission electron microscopy observations. The thermal behavior of the Cu2O nanospheres was investigated with in situ X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry experiments. Remarkable structural differences were observed for the nanospheres annealed in air, which turned into hollow spherical structures surrounded by outsized nanocrystals. FAU - Nunes, Daniela
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