Abstract
In this work, we demonstrated a facile template-free method for the preparation of hollow CuO microspheres via a conventional hydrothermal reaction. The hollow architecture formed directly during the hydrothermal treatment of copper nitrate and glucose, without the use of template, precipitant and calcination process. The effects of reaction time, reaction temperature and glucose concentration were investigated in detail. On the basis of experimental results, the formation of hollow CuO microspheres probably proceeded via self-assemble process and the subsequent Ostwald's ripening. This synthetic strategy strongly depended on the characteristics of copper nitrate, which made it could not extend to other copper salts and/or nitrates. Even though, glucose still showed efficient morphology controlling ability with respect to nanosized transitional metal oxides, which could be used for the controllable synthesis of nanomaterials.
Highlights
Hollow structures have attracted increasing attention due to their variety of applications in the elds of catalysis, energy, gas sensors, drug delivery and so on
Glucose still showed efficient morphology controlling ability with respect to nanosized transitional metal oxides, which could be used for the controllable synthesis of nanomaterials
We still found the efficient morphology controlling ability of glucose with respect to nanosized transitional metal oxides, which could be used for the controllable synthesis of nanomaterials
Summary
Hollow structures have attracted increasing attention due to their variety of applications in the elds of catalysis, energy, gas sensors, drug delivery and so on. By using the well known Ostwald's ripening phenomena, hollow structures could be created via gradual dissolution and recrystallization, which is one of the effective methods for template-free synthesis.[16,17] This originates from the fact that particles located in the inner cores generally possess relative higher surface energy as compared to that located in the exteriors, which is caused by the defects of mismatch generated during the initial high rate growth process. Ostwald's ripening process, we demonstrated a template-free synthesis of hollow CuO microspheres with the assistance of glucose via a conventional hydrothermal method. The present hollow CuO microspheres might be used in the elds of catalysis, gas sensors, superconductors, lithium ion batteries, etc
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