Rectangular copper nanotubes

One-dimensional Cu nanomaterials with a new morphology, rectangular copper nanotubes (copper NTs), were synthesized on a large-scale using a cetyltrimethylammonium chloride-assisted galvanic replacement reaction on rough Al substrates. In an acidic environment, Cu(ii) is reduced on sharp-topped Al substrates and copper NTs 150-300 nm in diameter and 2-10 μm in length were formed through fine-tuning the reaction temperature and chemical stoichiometry. Field-emission measurement results show that the copper NTs emitting electrons at turn-on fields of 8.76 V μm^-1 was observed with a field enhancement factor of 85. The superior catalytic property of copper NTs in the degradation of a methylene blue aqueous solution in the presence of H₂O₂ was also presented in this article.