Gram‐Scale Synthesis of Cu2O Nanocubes and Subsequent Oxidation to CuO Hollow Nanostructures for Lithium‐Ion Battery Anode Materials

A procedure for gram-scale synthesis of monodisperse Cu2O nanocubes by a simple polyol process is demonstrated. The nanocubes are subsequently oxidized to form CuO hollow cubes, spheres, and urchin-like particles, through a sequential dissolution–precipitation process. The CuO urchin-like particles exhibited excellent electrochemical performance and stability, superior to those of hollow structures, for lithium-ion battery anode materials. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as "Supporting Information". Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.