Effects of energy and hydrogen peroxide concentration on structural and optical properties of CuO nanosheets prepared by pulsed laser ablation

Abstract

Laser ablation of copper targets using Ce:Nd:YAG laser with pulses of 1064 nm wavelengths at 10 ns pulse width and with different laser pulse energies and in different concentrations of H2O2 solution is investigated experimentally. Cu/CuO flake-like nanostructures with visible band gap and the extension of its light absorption by changing the synthesis parameters such as laser pulse energy and concentration of H2O2 solution were observed.Characterization and comparison of the obtained suspensions are exploited by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The XRD analysis data show that in 10 vol% H2O2 solution CuO phase has been synthesized, while with decreasing the H2O2 concentration, Cu phase is also observed. The mean crystallite sizes of CuO were estimated using XRD patterns and were between 2.1 and 3.3 nm. The comparison of the UV–visible absorption spectra indicates that with decreasing pulse energy and decreasing H2O2 concentration up to 5 vol% the band gap of nanoparticles increased from 2.19 eV to 2.34 eV, which is accordant with the quantum confinement effect. FESEM image of all the synthesized samples illustrate the formation of flake-like nanostructure with the thickness of about 12–15 nm.