Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles in Aqueous Ambient Using Dismutation Reaction

Abstract

The present study has investigated the synthesis of copper nanoparticles via copper dismutation reaction in an aqueous solution and ambient conditions. Copper (II) chloride hydrate ( ), sodium oleate (SO), sodium chloride (NaCl) and ethylene diamine (EN) have been used as copper (I, II) ions source, surfactant, chloride ions supplier and ligand, respectively. Also, an amount of hydrochloric acid (HCl) was used as a multiplier for reaction rate. To perform copper dismutation reaction in the aqueous solution, the copper (I)–chloride complexes were first prepared from at a high concentration of chloride solution. Then, sodium oleate was added to solution as a size modifier. The reaction proceeded through the addition of ethylenediamine as a ligand to the solution. The crystalline structure, size, and morphology of the copper nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques, respectively. According to the analyses, the synthesized particles are less than 20 nanometers in size and spherical in shape.