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One-pot synthesis of uniform hollow cuprous oxide spheres fabricated by single-crystalline particles via a simple solvothermal route

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Abstract

Uniform Cu2O hollow spheres fabricated by single-crystalline particles (smaller than 20 nm) are facile synthesized in ethylene glycol (EG) solution by a simple solvothermal route without using pre-fabricated templates and reductive agents. EG in this protocol is not only used as a solvent, complexing agent, and reducing agent, but also served as a structure-directing agent for the formation of hollow structure. By control of reaction conditions, such as reaction time, temperature, and the anions, the morphology and structure of the hollow spheres can be tuned. A coordination adsorption and oriented attachment and Ostwald ripening mechanism is proposed for explaining the formation process of hollow Cu2O spheres in EG solution; and importantly, the hollow Cu2O spheres exhibit an excellent property for the electro-catalytic oxidization of ascorbic acid in acetic acid buffer solution. Moreover, the hollow spherical Cu2O particles could be potentially applied in catalysis, sensor, and as model for fundamental research.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by the National Science Foundation of China (91022032,31070730, 20871001, and 50973001), the Research Foundation for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China(20070357002), the Important Project of Anhui Provincial Education Department (ZD2007004–1), 211 Project of Anhui University (no.2009QN012A), Key Laboratory of Functional Material of Inorganic Chemistry and Key Laboratory of Environment-friendly Polymer Materials and Inorganic Materials of Anhui Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anhui University, 230039, Hefei, China

    Shi-Kuo Li, Chuan-Hao Li, Fang-Zhi Huang, Yang Wang, Yu-Hua Shen, An-Jian Xie & Qiong Wu

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  1. Shi-Kuo Li
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  2. Chuan-Hao Li
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  3. Fang-Zhi Huang
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  4. Yang Wang
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  5. Yu-Hua Shen
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  6. An-Jian Xie
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  7. Qiong Wu
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Correspondence to Yu-Hua Shen or An-Jian Xie.

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Li, SK., Li, CH., Huang, FZ. et al. One-pot synthesis of uniform hollow cuprous oxide spheres fabricated by single-crystalline particles via a simple solvothermal route. J Nanopart Res 13, 2865–2874 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-010-0175-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-010-0175-0

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