Five branching growth patterns in the cubic crystal system: A direct observation of cuprous oxide microcrystals

Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is selected in this paper to elucidate the shape evolution in the cubic crystal system. A wide range of novel cuprous oxide microcrystals (based on the five branching growth patterns) has been prepared through an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt dihydrate (EDTA) reduction route by employing the EDTA molecule as both chelating reagent and reductant. The morphology of these microcrystals has a strong dependence on the reaction conditions, which implies vast possibilities of designing new crystal morphologies and may result in the development of powerful and economical design strategies to enable future progress.