A novel approach for preparation of CuO nanostructures on conductive substrate

With great potential in various applications including nano-electronics, photovoltaic, sensor, copper oxide with nanostructures are extensively studied in the past decade. Herein, using facile solution process, we prepared uniform copper oxide nanostructures on various substrates, from gold thin film to indium-tin oxide. As we demonstrated, the synthesized structures have a considerably strong dependence on the reaction agent used. Copper chloride, copper nitrite, copper acetate and copper sulfite have been adopted as reaction agents. A type of uniform nano-network structure was acquired when copper sulfite is used. Besides the agent, reaction time also plays an important role in dictating the final structures of copper oxide. Finally, the fundamental mechanism of nanostructure growth was investigated and discussed. These uniform copper oxide nanostructures prepared on substrates are promising in electronic applications at nanoscale.