Large CuI crystal growth by evaporation technique and its growth mechanism

Abstract

Based on the negative temperature dependence of CuI solubility in acetonitrile solvent, a novel evaporation technique combined with increasing temperature programming was used to grow CuI crystals. It was found that the nucleation and growth of the CuI crystals can be adjusted by changing the temperature in the evaporation technique and a large transparent CuI single crystal of nearly 1 cm was first grown under a suitable temperature gradient. The growth process of the large CuI crystal in solution was then studied by measuring the evolution of the solute concentration with a spectrophotometer. The suitable temperature and solute concentration for the growth of large CuI crystals were in the range of 50-51.9 uC and 0.050-0.058 mol L 21 , respectively. The variation of the CuI crystal growth mechanism at different stages was also discussed. These results could provide a useful clue to further optimize the experimental scheme to grow larger CuI crystals.

Binding of Cu+ and Cu2+ with peptides: Peptides = oxytocin, Arg8‐vasopressin, bradykinin, angiotensin‐I, substance‐P, somatostatin, and neurotensin

“…Both the peptide (10 −4 M) and CuSO 4 (10 −1 M) solutions were prepared in deionized water. CuI (10 −1 M) solutions were prepared in acetonitrile and stored in a refrigerator due to its negative temperature‐dependent solubility . The matrix, α ‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) (10 mg/mL), was dissolved in 1:1 mixture of acetonitrile and deionized water.…”

Cuprous iodide - a p-type transparent semiconductor: history and novel applications

“…CuI single crystals up to 7.5 × 5 × 3 mm 3 in size have been grown from acetonitrile solvent by slow evaporation and up to nearly 1 cm size in Ref. .…”

Mechanism of band-edge luminescence in cuprous iodide single crystals

“…To our knowledge, there are few papers about the temperature dependence of photoluminescence spectra of CuI crystals and there is little research on the photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra of CuI material, especially in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region. Recently, large CuI single crystals up to 1 cm on edge have been successfully obtained by solution method in our laboratory [13]. Therefore, it is necessary to study the luminescence properties of CuI crystals so as to understand its luminescence mechanism and these results can help us to improve the luminescence intensity of CuI crystals for its scintillator applications.…”