Chemical synthesis and properties of spindle-like CuO nanostructures with porous nature

•Monodispersed synthesis of CuO nanospindles by chemical method.•Monodispersed nanospindles were obtained without templates.•Role of precursor concentration on the properties of CuO nanostructures were investigated.

A solution-phase method was adopted for the synthesis of porous copper oxide nanospindles without the use of templates. For a clear understanding of the formation process of CuO nanospindles, a series of experiments were carried out in aqueous solution with different reactant concentrations. The morphological investigation of synthesized CuO nanostructures were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Average size of the nanospindle was measured to be about 70 to 80 nm in diameter and 150 nm in length. The detailed structural and optical characterizations of the synthesized nanospindles were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and UV–vis spectroscopy respectively, which confirmed that the obtained nanospindles were well-crystalline possessing good optical properties. The elemental analysis has been performed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).