Abstract
Copper nanoparticles have been synthesized in ethylene glycol (EG) using copper sulphate as a precursor and vanadium sulfate as an atypical reductant being active at room temperature. We have described a technique for a relatively simple preparation of such a reagent, which has been electrolytically produced without using standard procedures requiring an inert atmosphere and a mercury cathode. Several stabilizing agents have been tested and cationic capping agents have been discarded owing to the formation of complex compounds with copper ions leading to insoluble phases contaminating the metallic nanoparticles. The elemental copper nanoparticles, stabilized with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), have been characterized for composition by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and for size by dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), giving a size distribution in the range of 40–50 nm for both stabilizing agents. From a methodological point of view, the process described here may represent an alternative to other wet-chemical techniques for metal nanoparticle synthesis in non-aqueous media based on conventional organic or inorganic reductants.
Highlights
Inorganic nanoparticles found several applications in physics, medical sciences and chemical engineering for their optical, therapeutical [1] and catalytic applications [2]
Ali et al [26] considered aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) in the presence of amino acids and pointed out that the critical micellar concentration (CMC) value for SDS depends on many factors, such as the temperature and other properties related to the chemical structure of solvent, surfactant and other dissolved compounds
A method for the synthesis of copper nanoparticles dispersed in ethylene glycol has been proposed, where a new type of reductant proved to have fast reaction kinetics at room temperature in the presence of two different stabilizing agents
Summary
Inorganic nanoparticles found several applications in physics, medical sciences and chemical engineering for their optical, therapeutical [1] and catalytic applications [2]. The manufacture of composite materials [3] has been revamped by nanotechnology owing to their promising applications to sensors and membrane separation processes [4]. Except for biotechnological synthesis methods, generally representing a recent and expanding world apart from traditional manufacturing techniques, we observe that physical and chemical methods for nanoparticle synthesis are essentially based on top–down and bottom–up techniques [7], according to a well-known classification currently accepted in the scientific community [8]. Top–down techniques in wet-chemical synthesis, despite an intrinsic simplicity in their processing steps, did not find extensive application owing to some difficulties in controlling shape and size distribution function of the nanostructured phase. Size polydispersity represents a crucial drawback in many fields, as in optics and electronics, where usually both mean and standard deviation of diameters have to Materials 2016, 9, 809; doi:10.3390/ma9100809 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
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