Hydrothermal Synthesis of Cuprous Oxide Nanoflowers and Characterization of Their Optical Properties

Abstract

In this study, the facile, one-step synthesis of cuprous oxide nanostructures via hydrothermal reaction is reported. Nanoflower-like cuprous oxides with average sizes of ~230 nm are synthesized by using copper (Cu) acetate monohydrate as the Cu source, glucose as the reducing agent and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the surfactant in basic aqueous solutions at 140oC for 6 h. The effects of the NaOH content on the morphology of synthesized structures are also investigated, where hexapods were synthesized when no NaOH used and submicron sized octahedra were obtained with increased NaOH amount. The optical properties of the synthesized structures are studied by using photoluminescence (PL) and UV-Vis spectroscopy. PL spectra revealed the presence of different band edge emissions located at similar wavelengths for all the three samples, where the intensity of the emissions varied from sample to sample. An absorbance peak located at ~355 nm and a direct bandgap value of about Eg = 2.16 eV are measured via UV-Vis spectroscopy of the nanoflower-like cuprous oxides.