Fabrication, Characterization, and Growth Mechanism of Cobalt Oxide Nanodots to Nanospheres Via Soft Chemical Solution Process

Abstract

In this study, the authors report a facile synthesis for the formation of nanoscale CoO dots to nanospheres via solution technique at low temperature and characterized in terms of their morphological, structural, compositional, and thermal properties. The morphological characterizations of as-synthesized and annealed CoO structures were done by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy, which confirmed that synthesized products are very small in size and bears small dots to spheres such as structures. The surface of nanodots is smooth and clean throughout the whole morphology. The crystalline property was analyzed with X-ray diffraction pattern and it reveals that the formed structures exhibit small size and clearly consistent with SEM observation. The compositional and thermal properties of as-synthesized and annealed CoO structures were observed via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric analysis, which confirmed that synthesized structures are pure CoO and showed good thermal stability. Finally, plausible mechanisms for the formation of CoO nanodots to nanospheres are also discussed.