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Nano Research 2017, 10(7): 2344-2350 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1429-2
Research Article | Issue | Published: 02 March 2017

Atomic-scale observation of a two-stage oxidation process in Cu2O

Show Author's Information Huihui Liu1,§,  He Zheng1,§,  Lei Li1,§,  Huaping Sheng1,  Shuangfeng Jia1( ),  Fan Cao1,  Xi Liu1,2,  Boyun Chen1,3,  Ru Xing4,  Dongshan Zhao1,  Jianbo Wang1,5( )
School of Physics and Technology Center for Electron Microscopy and MOE Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures and Institute for Advanced Studies Wuhan University Wuhan 430072 China
Middle School Attached to Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan 430074 China
Shuiguohu Senior Middle School Wuhan 430071 China
The Department of Physics Science and Technology Baotou Normal College Baotou 014030 China
Science and Technology on High Strength Structural Materials Laboratory Central South University Changsha 410083 China

§ These authors contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
oxidation, Cu2O, in situ electron microscopy, intermediated phases
Cite this article:
Liu H, Zheng H, Li L, et al. Atomic-scale observation of a two-stage oxidation process in Cu2O. Nano Research, 2017, 10(7): 2344-2350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1429-2
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Atomic-scale oxidation dynamics of Cu2O nanocrystallines (NCs) are directly observed by in situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. A two-stage oxidation process is observed: (1) The initial oxidation stage is dominated by the dislocation-mediated oxidation behavior of Cu2O NCs via solid-solid transformations, leading to the formation of a new intermediate CuOx phase. The possible crystal structure of the CuOx phase is discussed. (2) Subsequently, CuOx is transformed into CuO by layer-by-layer oxidation. These results will help in understanding the oxidation mechanisms of copper oxides and pave the way for improving their structural diversity and exploiting their potential industrial applications.


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About this article

Atomic-scale observation of a two-stage oxidation process in Cu2O

Show Author's information Huihui Liu1,§, He Zheng1,§, Lei Li1,§, Huaping Sheng1, Shuangfeng Jia1( ), Fan Cao1, Xi Liu1,2, Boyun Chen1,3, Ru Xing4, Dongshan Zhao1, Jianbo Wang1,5( )
School of Physics and Technology Center for Electron Microscopy and MOE Key Laboratory of Artificial Micro- and Nano-structures and Institute for Advanced Studies Wuhan University Wuhan 430072 China
Middle School Attached to Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan 430074 China
Shuiguohu Senior Middle School Wuhan 430071 China
The Department of Physics Science and Technology Baotou Normal College Baotou 014030 China
Science and Technology on High Strength Structural Materials Laboratory Central South University Changsha 410083 China

§ These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Atomic-scale oxidation dynamics of Cu2O nanocrystallines (NCs) are directly observed by in situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. A two-stage oxidation process is observed: (1) The initial oxidation stage is dominated by the dislocation-mediated oxidation behavior of Cu2O NCs via solid-solid transformations, leading to the formation of a new intermediate CuOx phase. The possible crystal structure of the CuOx phase is discussed. (2) Subsequently, CuOx is transformed into CuO by layer-by-layer oxidation. These results will help in understanding the oxidation mechanisms of copper oxides and pave the way for improving their structural diversity and exploiting their potential industrial applications.

Keywords: oxidation, Cu2O, in situ electron microscopy, intermediated phases

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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 19 August 2016
Revised: 18 December 2016
Accepted: 19 December 2016
Published: 02 March 2017
Issue date: July 2017

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2011CB933300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51671148, 51271134, J1210061, 11674251, 51501132, and 51601132), the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 2016CFB446 and 2016CFB155), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and the CERS-1-26 (CERS-China Equipment and Education Resources System), and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2014T70734), and the Open Research Fund of Science and Technology on High Strength Structural Materials Laboratory (Central South University) and the Suzhou Science and Technology project (No. SYG201619).

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