Efficient synthesis and growth mechanisms of CuO nanowires via self-resistive heating

Abstract

In this study, we present a fast and facile self-resistive heating method to fabricate copper oxide (CuO) nanowires (NWs) using copper wire substrates. The effect of growth temperature and time were investigated through both experiment and simulations. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the successful formation of highly crystalline CuO phase. Scanning electron microscopy images demonstrated that the NWs were uniform in size and at high density, indicating an efficient synthesis process. Additional analyses were conducted to further elucidate a thermodynamic mechanism of the growth of CuO NWs. Our extensive experimental and simulation data on synthesis parameters provide a detailed view on the growth of the NWs and explain the efficient growth of aligned CuO NWs synthesized by the resistive heating method.