The formation of CuO porous mesocrystal ellipsoids via tuning the oriented attachment mechanism

We report a new chemical reaction route to synthesizing CuO porous mesocrystal ellipsoids via decomposition of copper vanadium oxide under hydrothermal conditions. By finely tuning the oriented attachment growth mechanism of CuO, a porous mesocrystal structure was synthesized. Structural and morphological evolutions of the CuO product were investigated and the formation of CuO porous mesocrystal ellipsoids here was essentially determined by the amount of ammonium metavanadate. An oriented nanoparticle aggregation with tailoring of the structure, including compact mesocrystals and porous mesocrystals, could be achieved in different concentrations of reactants. The strategy of constructing the structure via an oriented attachment growth mechanism could be applied to the synthesis of other nanomaterials with complex structures.