Temperature-dependent crystallization of Cu2O rhombic dodecahedra

Size and shape uniformity of nanomaterials are extremely important for their applications in batteries, supercapacitors, catalysis, etc. In the crystallization process, finding proper synthesis conditions is necessary to have control over size dispersion, as well as crystal planes. In this work, we synthesized Cu2O rhombic dodecahedra (exposing 12 {110} planes) with size range from 1351 nm to 142 nm at a reaction temperature of 31-60 degrees C. The main parameters governing the size of Cu2O were the concentration of the precursor species and reduction reaction, which were affected by a given temperature. Results of crystallization experiments indicated that reaction and crystallization kinetics were mainly enhanced by raised temperature. Serving as lithium ion battery anodes, Cu2O rhombic dodecahedra showed higher capacity than cubes and octahedra. This work gives us a way of optimizing the temperature conditions for obtaining size uniformity of nanomaterials.