Synthesis of Copper Oxide Nano Powders: Effect of Surface Modifier Type

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, P.O. Box: 98135-987, Zahedan, Iran

2 Department of Inorganic Pigments and Glazes, Institute for Color Science and Technology, P.O. Box: 16765-654, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran

4 Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, Mlynská Dolina CH-2, Ilkovičova 6, SK-842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia

Abstract

CuO nano particles were synthesized via precipitation route in the presence of various surface modifiers (SMs) including Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and Polyethylene glycol (PEG), (3-Glycidoxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (3-GPTMS), Triton X-100 , Ethylene glycol (C2H6O2) and Oleic Acid. The effects of the SMs type on the structure, microstructure and band gap of samples were studied. Results generally showed that the SMs type led to formation of nanostructured monoclinic CuO phase with no considerable change in the structure and with crystallite size of ≤10nm. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra represented corresponding bands of Cu-O bonds in all samples. Moreover, scanning electron micrographs showed that highly agglomerated semispherical nano particles were obtained. Moreover, transmission electron micrographs showed synthesis in the presence of SDS and 3-GPTMS led to smallest and largest nano particles. Furthermore, considerable band gap broadening of powders up to 4 eV confirms the nano nature of synthesized particles even in quantum region. 

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