Unusually Large Lattice Mismatch‐Induced Optical Behaviors of Au@Cu–Cu2O Core–Shell Nanocrystals with Noncentrally Located Cores

To extend the optical property characterization of metal–Cu₂O polyhedra, 50 nm Au@Cu cubic cores are used to fabricate Au@Cu–Cu₂O core–shell cubes, octahedra, and rhombic dodecahedra with tunable sizes. Despite the unusually large lattice mismatch of 15.1% between Cu and Cu₂O, fine adjustment in the volumes of reagents introduced allows the formation of these heterostructures. To relieve the lattice strain, the metal cores are essentially never found to locate at the particle center, and slight lattice spacing shifts are recorded. Although efforts are made to reduce the heterostructure sizes, the Cu₂O shells are generally too thick to reveal surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption band from the metal cores. Only the Au@Cu–Cu₂O cubes with many cores located near the particle corners show observable SPR band red‐shift, but UV–vis spectra of all particle shapes are still dominated by Cu₂O absorption and light scattering bands. Au@Cu–Cu₂O cubes consistently show the most red‐shifted absorption bands than those of octahedra resulting from the optical facet effects.