Evolution of the morphology of Cu2O microcrystals: cube to 50-facet polyhedron through beveled cube and rhombicuboctahedron

Abstract

We present a simple morphology-controlled method for the synthesis of Cu₂O microcrystals. The Cu₂O microcrystals are prepared via the reduction of copper with glucose in an alkaline aqueous solution. The concentration of NaOH plays an important role in the morphology evolution of the resulting microcrystals. We observed the evolution of the morphology of the Cu₂O microcrystals, which changes from a cube to a beveled cube and then to a rhombicuboctahedron and a 50-facet polyhedron upon the increase in the NaOH concentration. A mechanism is proposed to explain the evolution of the morphology of Cu₂O.