Novel growth morphologies of nano- and micro-structured cadmium oxide

Powder particles of various morphologies and dimensions of CdO via metal – catalyst free – vapor phase were grown using a simple thermal evaporation technique under atmospheric pressure at the temperature of 1273 K. CdO deposited at quartz (slide)-substrate exhibited the formation of different morphologies including tubular, cylindrical, horse-shoe and semi-spherical. In contrast the CdO grown inside quartz-crucible resulted the more precise geometrical shapes of faceted cuboids interspersed with spheroids and highly dense long rods of even surfaces. These novel microstructures have elucidated crystallographically preferred growth along 002 plane in a cubic lattice, instead of 111 plane observed in a bulk CdO. Evolution of different microstructures on quartz-substrate (slide) and inside crucible is compared and discussed to understand the mechanism of formation of these fascinating microscopic objects.