LAUSR

Abstract Cu2O particles with cubic, octahedral, truncated octahedral and cubic truncated morphologies were synthesized using a simple chemical reduction method at room temperature. The nanocrystals were synthesized directly in aqueous solution by varying the molar concentration of CuCl2 precursor salt added to the sodium borohydride NaBH4 as a reducing agent. The solids obtained were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). UV–vis absorption spectra exhibit peaks with characteristic wavelengths of Cu2O. SEM and TEM reveal particles with a cubic morphology at 15 mM CuCl2, with an average particle size of 100 nm. Cu2O particles are also grown in an octahedral shape at 16 mM of CuCl2, having an average particle size of 150 nm. Finally, truncated octahedral and truncated cubic forms were produced for concentrations in the range of 17–20 mM with 100 nm of average size.