Hydrothermal synthesis, characterization and gas sensing properties of novel Cu2O open hollow nanospheres

Open-hollow-nanostructured Cu2O have received considerable attention owing to high surface-to-volume ratio, low density and sufficient interior space for potential applications in some areas, such as gas sensing and photocatalysis. An open-hollow-nano spherical Cu2O has been prepared via a facile hydrothermal method. In this preparing route, the CTAB and temperature of the detergent played an important role for the formation of the Cu2O open hollow nano-spheres. A possible formation mechanism has been proposed for explaining the phenomenon. Furthermore, the obtained Cu2O open hollow nano-spheres demonstrated excellent gas-sensing performance.