Controllable fabrication and self-assembly of Cu nanostructures: the role of Cu complexes.

The controllable fabrication of low dimensional nanostructures and the assembly of nanostructures into hierarchical higher order structures at the atomic or molecular level have been two hot-spots of current nano research. In this work, the fabrication and self-assembly of Cu nanostructures were carried out by reducing Cu complexes in a mixed aqueous solution of NaOH and hydrazine hydrate at a water bath temperature of 60 °C. The reduction products were characterized using a metalloscope, a scanning electron microscope, a transmission electron microscope and a powder X-ray diffractometer. It was found that the fabrication and self-assembly of Cu nanostructures can be easily realized by controlling the types of Cu complexes such as [Cu(OH)], [Cu(EDA)] and [Cu(EDA)(OH)]. The authors further analyzed the important roles of Cu complexes in the fabrication and self-assembly of Cu nanostructures. It was concluded that the Cu complexes in the aqueous solution would spontaneously arrange into a certain soft template according to the principle of "like dissolves like" and the action of electrostatic forces of positive and negative charges. The as-formed templates determine the fabrication and self-assembly routes and the final products of the Cu nanostructures. Therefore, it provides a controllable and universal method for both fabrication and self-assembly of Cu nanostructures, which may have potential applications in the fields of electronic and optoelectronic nanodevices in the future.