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

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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 CuO x phase. The possible crystal structure of the CuO x phase is discussed. (2) Subsequently, CuO x 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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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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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 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

    Huihui Liu, He Zheng, Lei Li, Huaping Sheng, Shuangfeng Jia, Fan Cao, Xi Liu, Boyun Chen, Dongshan Zhao & Jianbo Wang

  2. Middle School Attached to Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Xi Liu

  3. Shuiguohu Senior Middle School, Wuhan, 430071, China

    Boyun Chen

  4. The Department of Physics Science and Technology, Baotou Normal College, Baotou, 014030, China

    Ru Xing

  5. Science and Technology on High Strength Structural Materials Laboratory, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

    Jianbo Wang

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  1. Huihui Liu
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  2. He Zheng
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  3. Lei Li
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Correspondence to Shuangfeng Jia or Jianbo Wang.

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Liu, H., Zheng, H., Li, L. et al. Atomic-scale observation of a two-stage oxidation process in Cu2O. Nano Res. 10, 2344–2350 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1429-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1429-2

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