Fast Room Temperature Solution-phase Approach for Selective Synthesis of Nanostructured Cu(OH)2, Cu2O and CuO

A simple room-temperature solution-phase and efficient method for the selective preparation of nanostructured copper hydroxide (Cu(OH)2), copper oxide (II) CuO or Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) from a Cu2+ solution was developed. Mono-disperse cubic Cu2O were obtained by sodium hydroxide addition to this solution in the presence of ethylene glycol (EG) while monoclinic CuO nano-particles were obtained in the presence poly-ethylene glycol (PEG) as dispersant agent.

By adjusting the amounts of EG, octahedron and truncated octahedron aggregates of copper oxide (I) nanoparticles (Cu2O) can be formed, whereas in case of PEG, Cu(OH)2 nanowires, CuO sheet-shaped nanoparticles () can be obtained. These observations were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

It appears that the EG and PEG act as size-controlling and growth-directing agents in addition to their role as a dispersant.