Synthesis of Cu2O nanobelts via surfactant-assisted polyol method

Abstract

Abstract The synthesis of nanostructured Cu 2 O was conducted in a non-aqueous solution via polyol method at a temperature of 130 °C. It was found that the formation of Cu 2 O nanobelts was heavily dependent on the presence of surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Cu 2 O nanobelts with 100–400 nm in width and several micrometers in length were only observed when CTAB was used, whereas in other cases where CTAB was absent or CTAB was replaced with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP K-30), only spherical or cube-like particles were formed. The formation mechanism of Cu 2 O nanobelts was discussed.