Kunfeng Chen, Dongfeng Xue
2012
Citations
0
Influential Citations
35
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Letters
Abstract
Nanoscale crystallization is vital for synthesis of morphology- and size-controlled nanocrystals, however, the role of chemical reactions during crystallization is less thoroughly studied. From a kinetic viewpoint, this review article presents a systematical study of the effect of chemical reactions on the hydrothermal crystallization of copper oxides. The summarized results show that the chemical reaction can be adjusted by various kinetic factors such as concentration, temperature, and pH, which can effectively control particle size and shape. Both reaction rate and growth rate of copper oxides nanocrystals were increased with increasing temperature and pH, while low and medium Cu2+ concentrations can maintain appropriate chemical reaction rate and shape control. With weak hydrolysis limit water can have little influence on reaction kinetics, while OH- increases reaction kinetics and facilitates the formation of shape-controlled copper oxides nanocrystals. The triple role of citrate was identified, ligands, reducing agents, and weak bases, which are related to different chemical reactions. The crystallization habits of nanoparticles synthesized in different chemical reaction routes were also discussed.