Sonochemical synthesis and nonlinear optical property of CuO hierarchical superstructures

•Carambolla-like CuO hierarchical nanostructures with diameter of about 200 nm and length of 600 nm have been successfully synthesized.•A possible formation mechanism for carambolla-like CuO nanostructures was proposed.•The nonlinear optical property of carambolla-like CuO nanostructures has also been investigated.

Carambolla-like CuO hierarchical nanostructures with diameter of about 200 nm and length of 600 nm have been successfully synthesized through a fast and facile sonochemical method. The morphology, crystallinity and size of the as-prepared products were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The growth mechanism of carambolla-like CuO nanostructures is discussed by monitoring different reaction times. It is shown that the carambolla-like CuO nanostructures are formed through oriented attachment of nanowires. In addition, the nonlinear optical property of carambolla-like CuO nanostructures has also been investigated, indicating that these nanomaterials have potential future application in nonlinear optics.