Facile synthesis of copper nanostructures through simple replacement reaction

Copper, an old material, is still extensively used nowadays. In this paper, through extremely simple replacement reaction approach, we synthesized various copper nanostructures under ambient atmosphere at room temperature. Pure copper, with splendid structures at nanoscale, was acquired by dipping iron plate into solution with copper ions. With different reactant, copper chloride, copper sulfate, copper nitrite and copper acetate, different copper nanostructures are obtained. Using copper chloride, dendrite structure is prepared; and copper sulfate leads to sponge-like structure; while both copper nitrite and copper acetate result into no copper structure. What's more, we discovered that enough long reaction time will lead to the transformation of dendrite copper into sponge-like copper, no matter what copper salt is employed. Addition of silver ions into the reaction system demonstrated the significant influence of copper salt into the synthesis of dendrite silver structures. Finally, the mechanism of the nanostructures formation is investigated thoroughly.