Directional growth of quasi-2D Cu2O monocrystals on rGO membranes in aqueous environments

Yimin Zhao; Quan Zhang; Jianbing Ma; Ruobing Yi; Lu Gou; Dexi Nie; Xiaona Han; Lihao Zhang; Yuetian Wang; Xintong Xu; Zhe Wang; Liang Chen; Ying Lu; Shengli Zhang; Lei Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105472

Directional growth of quasi-2D Cu₂O monocrystals on rGO membranes in aqueous environments

iScience. 2022 Nov 2;25(12):105472. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105472. eCollection 2022 Dec 22.

Authors

Yimin Zhao¹, Quan Zhang¹, Jianbing Ma², Ruobing Yi^{1

3}, Lu Gou¹, Dexi Nie¹, Xiaona Han¹, Lihao Zhang¹, Yuetian Wang¹, Xintong Xu¹, Zhe Wang¹, Liang Chen^{4

3}, Ying Lu², Shengli Zhang¹, Lei Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
² Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
³ Department of Optical Engineering, Zhejiang Prov Key Lab Carbon Cycling Forest Ecosy, Zhejiang Prov Key Lab of Chemical Utilization of Forestry Biomass, Zhejiang A&F University, Lin'an 311300, China.
⁴ School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.

Abstract

The preparation technology of unconventional low-dimensional Cu₂O monocrystals, which exhibit specific crystal planes and present significantly unique interfacial and physicochemical properties, is attracting increasing attention and interest. Herein, by integrating a high-temperature oxidation process under vacuum and a pure-water incubation process under ambient conditions, we propose the self-assembled growth and synthesis of quasi-two-dimensional Cu₂O monocrystals on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) membranes. The prepared Cu₂O crystals have a single (110) crystal plane, regular rectangular morphology, and potentially well conductivity. Experimental and theoretical results suggest that this assembly is attributed to the pre-nucleation clusters aggregation and directional attachment of Cu and O on the rGO membranes in aqueous environment and cation-π interactions between the (110) crystal plane of Cu₂O and rGO surface. Our findings offer a potential avenue for the discovery and design of advanced low-dimensional single-crystal materials with specific interfacial properties in a pure aqueous environment.

Keywords: Materials synthesis; Nanomaterials; Nanotechnology.