Nanoparticle-aggregated paddy-like copper dendritic nanostructures

In this paper, an HCuCl₂ solution has been discovered for high-yield fabrication of paddy-like copper dendritic nanostructures via electroless deposition route. The morphology of the copper dendritic nanostructure is obviously better than that synthesized in CuCl₂ aqueous solution under otherwise the same experimental conditions. The appearance of these novel paddy-like copper nanodendrites can be attributed to diffusion-limited aggregation and oriented attachment mechanism. The dendritic morphology can be tailored via physical field, such as thermal field and magnetic field. Significantly, the HCuCl₂ solution reported in this work might provide a new way for the shape-controlled synthesis of metal copper or copper based alloy.