Surfactant Assisted Synthesis of Cuprous Oxide (Cu 2 O) Nanoparticles via Solvothermal Process

Abstract

Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles have been synthesized by facile solvothermal scheme. The reduction of copper sulphate pentahydrate (CuSO4.5H2O) was carried out with D-glucose as a reductant, in the presence of organic additive polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP K-30). The synthesized CuO2 nanoparticles have been characterized by UV-Vis Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. The SEM images showed that the morphology of the Cu2O nanostructures was highly uniform and growth was controlled. The nanoparticles were found to be single crystalline and monodispersed in octahedral shapes. Such type of morphology has not been reported yet using PVP K-30 as surfactant. XRD peaks confirmed the single crystalline phases of Cu2O nanoparticles. The growth of the monodispersed single crystals has been explained on the basis of diffusion mechanism. The grain size of the nanoparticles was found to be in the range of 34- 45 nm. UV-visible absorptions spectra showed that the bandgap transition is around 635 nm (~ 2.0 eV). FTIR transmission peak at 623 cm-1 confirmed Cu(I)-O vibrations, which is very well consistent with the reported value.