Highly symmetric polyhedral Cu₂O crystals with controllable-index planes

Novel highly symmetric multi-faceted polyhedral Cu₂O crystals enclosed by controllable high-index facets and different low-index facets have been synthesized via a template-free complex-precursor solution route. The formation and evolution of these polyhedral shapes can be attributed to the aggregation and ripening mechanism with face-selective adsorption. The appearance of these novel polyhedral architectures further enriches the current morphologies of Cu₂O crystals, and might become useful for the fundamental study of crystals design.