Preparation of Cu2O crystals by glucose liquid phase reduction: Morphology evolution and size control

Cu2O crystals with different sizes from cube to octahedron have been successfully synthesized by a facile synthetic method without additional capping agents. The residual OH− shows directional adsorption on the {111} facet, modifying the growth rate along the <100> and <111> directions and froming different Cu2O shapes. The morphology and size of Cu2O crystal are affected by experimental parameters including the concentration of CuSO4·5H2O, NaOH, glucose, the pre-reaction time and the initial temperature.