Flower-like CuO hierarchical nanostructures: synthesis, characterization, and property

Abstract

Nanoflake-based flower-like CuO nanostructures have been synthesized through thermal decomposition of [Cu(NH₃)₄]²⁺ solution without any surfactants and catalysts at low temperature. The products are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The possible formation process based on the aggregation-recrystallization mechanism is proposed. Finally, the obtained flower-like CuO hierarchical nanostructures have been used as the photocatalyst in the experiments. It is found that the as-prepared flower-like CuO hierarchical nanostructures exhibit superior photocatalytic property on photocatalytic decomposition of Rhodamine B due to their hierarchical structures.

Keywords

cupric oxide (CuO) / microflowers / hierarchical nanostructures / photocatalytic property

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21105001and 61203212), and Anhui Provincial Natural Science (No. 10040606Q34).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg