Sacrificial seed mediated synthesis of copper nanopots by a modified polyol process

Abstract

A novel modified polyol process has been developed for the synthesis of hollow copper nanopots. Cobalt hydrazine complex was employed for the preparation of cobalt nanoparticles (NPs), which in turn acted as sacrificial seeds for the production of Cu nanopots and nanocups. The reduction of Cu2+ to Cu0 was observed by the colour change from bluish green to dark brownish red. The reaction was followed with the help of a UV–Vis spectrometer. A surface plasmon band at 558 nm indicated the formation of Cu NPs. Chemical characterisation was carried out using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer and Leco gas analysers, CS-444 and TC-600. Crystal structure was obtained by carrying out X-ray diffraction studies and it showed a face centred cubic structure. Particle size and morphology were obtained from scanning electron microscope. On average, copper nanopots of size 72 nm could be obtained using this method.