Lili Yang

Controllable synthesis of Cu2O petalody octahedral microcrystals and multi-patterned evolution.

The fabrication of cuprous oxide (Cu(2)O) with various morphologies has attracted extensive interest due to its applications in solar energy conversion, electrode materials, sensors, and catalysts. Herein, we report a facile controllable route for Cu(2)O microcrystals with various architectures via a hydrothermal method without using templates or surfactants. Six types of Cu(2)O microcrystals including petalody octahedral, concave truncated octahedron, truncated octahedron, octahedron, sphere-like, and sphere are obtained accompanying with Cu precipitation or urchin-like CuO particles due to the modifying of pH values. The petalody octahedral pattern of Cu(2)O is for the first time found here under the condition of pH 7-8. Additionally, possible growth mechanism for multi-patterned Cu(2)O and compositional evolution is discussed via preferential growths induced by selective absorption of acrylic acid and decomposition of lactic acid in the present reaction system. These experimental results prove a versatile and facile strategy for Cu(2)O microcrystals with special and complex architectures, which may highlights their potential applications due to the improved surface activity, catalytic, or photoelectric performance.

Two modes in macroporous Cu2O growth through template-assisted electrodeposition method

Macroporous materials with three dimensional pores and channels are anticipated to exhibit improved performance in numerous applications such as photonic band gap crystals, battery electrodes and gas sensors due to their special structure. In this work, macroporous Cu2O thin films were prepared by template-assisted electrodeposition method. The mechanism of electrodeposition infiltrating procedures indicated that the target architectures can basically maintain its original shape, and the fabrication of spherical-porous shaped Cu2O controlled by crystalline structures is firstly studied systematically. The morphology of macroporous material along the (1 1 1) direction demonstrated that the target architecture can copy both the crystalline structures and the colloidal crystal template. Moreover, models are set up to discuss the evolution of the morphology (the shapes of the pore mouths and pore walls), which indicated that the pore mouths and pore walls were deeply influenced by the deposition depth.

Studies on late formation of 3D ordered macroporous materials through colloidal crystal templates

Three-dimensional ordered macroporous (3DOM) materials are anticipated to exhibit improved performance in lots of applications due to their special structure. This paper presents the formation mechanism of 3DOM structure during the removal process of templates, which has not been systematically studied yet. Using polymer colloidal crystal template, 3DOM metallic materials were prepared by electrochemical deposition and dissolution. The results indicate that windows in inverse opals are formed because of the associated breaking of thin wall materials. There seems to be a critical thickness for the same wall materials. The existence of windows improved the formation of 3DOM structures during the removal process of templates.