Synthesis and Characterization of Cuprous Oxide Microcrystal with Different Morphologies

Cuprous oxide with different morphologies micro-crystals are prepared by a hydrothermal process with copper sulfate and sodium lactate as precursors.Morphology of cuprous oxide is simply controlled by solution pH values adjusted by sodium hydroxide.All the samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning election microscopy(SEM).The growth mechanism of cuprous oxide micro-crystal under different conditions is discussed.Results show that morphologies of the synthesized micro-crystals alter from branched structure to octahedron structure and cube structure with solution pH.Therefore,morphologies of cuprous oxide micro-crystal grown by hydrothermal process could be simply controlled by solution pH.