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Room Temperature Synthesis of Cu2O Nanospheres: Optical Properties and Thermal Behavior

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2014

Daniela Nunes*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, CENIMAT/I3N, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Lídia Santos
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, CENIMAT/I3N, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Paulo Duarte
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, CENIMAT/I3N, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Ana Pimentel
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, CENIMAT/I3N, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Joana V. Pinto
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, CENIMAT/I3N, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Pedro Barquinha
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, CENIMAT/I3N, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Patrícia A. Carvalho
Affiliation:
ICEMS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Elvira Fortunato*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, CENIMAT/I3N, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Rodrigo Martins*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, CENIMAT/I3N, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT) Universidade Nova de Lisboa and CEMOP-UNINOVA, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
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Abstract

The 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.

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SPMicros Special Section
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2014 

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