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We report the preparation of porous CuO nanowires that are composed of nanoparticles （-50 nm） via a simple decomposition of a Cu（OH）2 precursor and their application as the anode materials of rechargeable Na-ion batteries. The as-prepared porous CuO nanowires exhibit a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller （BET） surface area of 13.05 m^2.g^-1, which is six times larger than that of bulk CuO （2.16 m^2.g^-1）. The anode of porous CuO nanowires showed discharge capacities of 640 mA.h.g^-1 in the first cycle and 303 mA.h.g^-1 after 50 cycles at 50 mA.g^-1 The high capacity is attributed to porous nanostructure which facilitates fast Na-intercalation kinetics. The mechanism of electrochemical Na-storage based on conversion reactions has been studied through cyclic voltammetry, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Raman spectroscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）. It is demonstrated that in the discharge process, Na＋ions first insert into CuO to form a CuⅡ1-x CuⅠ x O1-x/2solid and a Na2O matrix then CuⅡ1-xCu Ⅰ xO1-x/2 reacts with Na＋ to produce Cu2O, and finally Cu2O decompose into Cu nanoparticles enclosed in a Na2O matrix. During the charge process, Cu nanopartides are first oxidized to generate Cu2O and then converted back to CuO. This result contributes to the design and mechanistic analysis of high-performance anodes for rechargeable Na-ion batteries.

Metal oxide semiconductors have found widespread applications in chemical sensors based on electrical transduction principles, in particular for the detection of a large variety of gaseous analytes, including environmental pollutants and hazardous gases. This review recapitulates the progress in copper oxide nanomaterial-based devices, while discussing decisive factors influencing gas sensing properties and performance. Literature reports on the highly sensitive detection of several target molecules, including volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and nitrogen oxide from parts-per-million down to parts-per-billion concentrations are compared. Physico-chemical mechanisms for sensing and transduction are summarized and prospects for future developments are outlined.

Cuprous oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) heterojunction solar cells fabricated on indium tin oxide-coated glass were studied. CuO and ZnO films were deposited using a galvanostatic method. Structural, morphological and optoelectronic properties of the CuO/ZnO heterojunction were studied by using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and light current-voltage characteristics.

Copper oxide films were deposited by simple nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique using aqueous solution of Copper(II) acetate monohydrate, high pure glucose and 20 vol% of 2-propanol. Structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of the deposited films were characterized by XRD, Laser Raman, AFM, UV–Vis and Hall Effect measurements. The XRD study confirmed that the copper oxide films are in polycrystalline form of cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) phase with cubic crystal structure for the films deposited using precursor volumes of 3 and 4 ml, whereas the films deposited using 5 ml precursor solution are in cupric oxide (CuO) phase with monoclinic crystal structure. The higher concentration films shows higher thickness (~ 600 nm for 5 ml) and that change the phase/composition of the films. The prepared CuO films with 5 ml precursor solution are expected to show better properties. AFM studies revealed that the surfaces of the films are very smooth with uniformly distributed grains. The surface roughness of the film was increased with volume of the solution and the grain islands were coalesced with each other. UV visible spectrophotometer measurements showed that the band gap value of the prepared copper oxide thin films is varied between 1.63 and 1.23 eV due to change of volume of the solution. Hall Effect measurement showed that the prepared films are in p-type conductivity with 8.21 ×10 2  Ω-cm resistivity (ρ) and 12.56 ×10 15  cm −3 carrier concentration (n) for the films prepared at 5 ml solution. All the studied properties of CuO for 5 ml precursor solution are remarkably changed.

Aims Acid detergent lignin (ADL), acetyl bromide (AcBr), and cupric oxide oxidation (CuO) were compared as methods for determining lignin concentration and quality in plant residues. Methods These three methods were used to analyze 27 plant residues from different groups of species, i.e., legumes, crucifers, herbs, grasses, and trees. Results Median lignin concentrations of the 27 plant materials were 4.5% ADL and 6.0% AcBr lignin, significantly exceeding the median of 2.1% CuO lignin. ADL concentrations varied from 0.8 to 27.0%; those of AcBr and CuO lignin ranged from 1.8 to 12.2% and from 0.6 to 9.7%, respectively. AcBr lignin showed a significant negative, non-linear relationship with total N. In addition, the relationship of ADL and CuO data was negatively affected by total N. Conclusion The ADL method is simple and well reproducible, and large datasets are available for comparison. The AcBr procedure is fast, with less interference from non-lignin products than ADL. The CuO method is not interfered with by any other organic component in the plant material and gives additional information on the composition of the lignin. However, the release of phenolic units may be incomplete.

In the nanoscience metal and metal oxide, nanoparticles have a prominent place because of their vast applications. Recent finding shows that in addition to size, there are other critical factors governing the biological response of nanoparticles. These factors include surface chemistry and shape that influences solubility, rate of diffusion, drug delivery, melting temperature, and colour of the nanoparticles. It is thus the present study that was aimed to investigate the effect of temperature on the shape and size of nanoparticles and related cytotoxicity of these particles on ovarian granulosa cells. Cupric oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) were synthesized using a simple, efficient, and reproducible precipitation method involving the reduction of Cu metal salt with sodium hydroxide and then incubation of the precipitates at 70 °C for 5 h. Subsequently, this prepared sample was divided into 3 subsamples and incubated at 3 different temperatures, i.e. 70 °C, 150 °C, and 350 °C for 5 h to study the effect of temperature on the particles. The products were characterized by XRD, FTIR, HRTEM, and FESEM. Characterization of the particles revealed that all particles were monoclinic crystalline in nature and had a size range from 9 to 60 nm. Particles were of different shapes: spherical, needle, and capsule. The toxicity of each particle was determined on granulosa cells by exposing cells for 24 h at 2 different doses. Toxicological results showed the size and shape-related toxicity of nanoparticles where spherical shapes were significantly more toxic than capsule-shaped particles.

In this work, we present an effective process easily adapted in industrial environments for the development of multifunctional nanocomposites for material extrusion (MEX) 3D printing (3DP). The literature is still very limited in this field, although the interest in such materials is constantly increasing. Nanocomposites with binary inclusions were prepared and investigated in this study. Polylactic acid (PLA) was used as the matrix material, and cuprous oxide (Cu2O) and cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were used as nanoadditives introduced in the matrix material to enhance the mechanical properties and induce antibacterial performance. Specimens were built according to international standards with a thermomechanical process. Tensile, flexural, impact, and microhardness tests were conducted. The effect on the thermal properties of the matrix material was investigated through thermogravimetric analysis, and Raman spectroscopic analysis was conducted. The morphological characteristics were evaluated with atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS) analyses. The antibacterial performance of the prepared nanomaterials was studied against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, with a screening agar well diffusion method. All nanocomposites prepared exhibited biocidal properties against the bacteria tested. The tested PLA/1.0 CNF/0.5 Cu2O material had 51.1% higher tensile strength and 35.9% higher flexural strength than the pure PLA material.

Particles of sub-micron size possess significant capacity to adsorb organic molecules from aqueous media. Semiconductor photocatalysts in particle form could potentially be utilized for dye removal through either physical adsorption or photo-induced chemical process. The photocatalytic and adsorption capabilities of Cu2O particles with various exposed crystal facets have been studied through separate adsorption capacity test and photocatalytic degradation test. These crystals display unique cubic, octahedral, rhombic dodecahedral, and truncated polyhedral shapes due to specifically exposed crystal facet(s). For comparison, Cu2O particles with no clear exposed facets were also prepared. The current work confirms that the surface charge critically affects the adsorption performance of the synthesized Cu2O particles. The octahedral shaped Cu2O particles, with exposed {111} facets, possess the best adsorption capability of methyl orange (MO) dye due to the strongest positive surface charge among the different types of particles. In addition, we also found that the adsorption of MO follows the Langmuir monolayer mechanism. The octahedral particles also performed the best in photocatalytic dye degradation of MO under visible light irradiation because of the assistance from dye absorption. On top of the photocatalytic study, the stability of these Cu2O particles during the photocatalytic processes was also investigated. Cu(OH)2 and CuO are the likely corrosion products found on the particle surface after the photocorrosion in MO solution. By adding hole scavengers in the solution, the photocorrosion of Cu2O was greatly reduced. This observation confirms that the photocatalytically generated holes were responsible for the photocorrosion of Cu2O.

Buildings worldwide are becoming more thermally insulated, and air circulation is being reduced to a minimum. As a result, measuring indoor air quality is important to prevent harmful concentrations of various gases that can lead to safety risks and health problems. To measure such gases, it is necessary to produce low-cost and low-power-consuming sensors. Researchers have been focusing on semiconducting metal oxide (SMOx) gas sensors that can be combined with intelligent technologies such as smart homes, smart phones or smart watches to enable gas sensing anywhere and at any time. As a type of SMOx, p-type gas sensors are promising candidates and have attracted more interest in recent years due to their excellent electrical properties and stability. This review paper gives a short overview of the main development of sensors based on copper oxides and their composites, highlighting their potential for detecting CO2 and the factors influencing their performance.

High level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is considered one of the main causes of global warming. Electrochemical conversion of CO2 into valuable chemicals and fuels has promising potential to be implemented into practical and sustainable devices. In order to efficiently realize this strategy, one of the biggest efforts has been focused on the design of catalysts which are inexpensive, active and selective and can be produced through green and up-scalable routes. In this work, copper-based materials are simply synthesized via microwave-assisted process and carefully characterized by physical/chemical/electrochemical techniques. Nanoparticle with a cupric oxide (CuO) surface as well as various cuprous oxide (Cu2O) cubes with different sizes is obtained and used for the CO2 reduction reaction. It is observed that the Cu2O-derived electrodes show enhanced activity and carbon monoxide (CO) selectivity compared to the CuO-derived one. Among various Cu2O catalysts, the one with the smallest cubes leads to the best CO selectivity of the electrode, attributed to a higher electrochemically active surface area. Under applied potentials, all Cu2O cubes undergo structural and morphological modification, even though the cubic shape is retained. The nanoclusters formed during the material evolution offer abundant and active reaction sites, leading to the high performance of the Cu2O-derived electrodes.Graphic abstract