Cuprous Oxide Nanoparticles

The Cuprous Oxide (Cu₂O) is a semiconductor metal which is nontoxic, low cost and has abundant source materials. Cu₂O has gained a renewed interest for various technological applications due to its optoelectronic properties. It is a well-known p-type semiconductor with theoretical direct band gap of 2.2 eV which allows fabrication of high efficiency solar cells (theoretical efficiency ~ 18 %). Hence, Cu₂O nanoparticles are widely used in various fields based on their unique magnetic, electronic and optical properties, such as CO oxidation, gas sensing, photodegradation and photocatalyst. Moreover, the prospective application areas of Cu₂O also includes chemical industry, biosensors, lithium ion batteries, photo catalysis, photoluminescence, optoelectronic and gas sensors. Literature reports several methods for the synthesis of Cu₂O nanoparticles such as: thermal oxidation, potentiostatic deposition, activated reactive evaporation, spray pyrolysis ,laser ablation, microemulsion, sono-chemical,   microwave,   liquid phase synthesis. Although cobalt nanoparticles have some outstanding properties, it is a rather new material and more research should be done in order to enhance the properties and moderate the disadvantages.