Construction of cuprous oxide electrodes composed of 2D single-crystalline dendritic nanosheets.

An unusual anisotropic growth of Cu(2)O is stabilized via the electrochemical synthesis of Cu(2)O in the presence of Ag(+) ions, which results in the formation of Cu(2)O electrodes composed of 2D sheetlike crystals containing complex dendritic patterns. It is quite unusual for Cu(2)O to form a 2D morphology since it has a 3D isotropic cubic crystal structure where the a, b, and c axes are equivalent. Each Cu(2)O sheet is single-crystalline in nature and is grown parallel to the {110} plane, which is rarely observed in Cu(2)O crystal shapes. A various set of experiments are performed to understand the role of Ag(+) ions on the 2D growth of Cu(2)O. The results show that Ag(+) ions are deposited as silver islands on already growing Cu(2)O crystals and serve as nucleation sites for the new growth of Cu(2)O crystals. As a result, the growth direction of the newly forming Cu(2)O crystals is governed by the diffusion layer structure created by the pre-existing Cu(2)O crystals, which results in the formation of 2D dendritic patterns. The thin 2D crystal morphology can significantly increase the surface-to-volume ratio of Cu(2)O crystals, which is beneficial for enhancing various electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties of the electrodes. The photoelectrochemical properties of the Cu(2)O electrodes composed of 2D dendritic crystals are investigated and compared to those of 3D dendritic crystals. This study provides a unique and effective route to maximize the {110} area per unit volume of Cu(2)O, which will be beneficial for any catalytic/sensing abilities that can be anisotropically enhanced by the {110} planes of Cu(2)O.