CONTROLLED GROWTH OF COPPER NANOPARTICLES AND NANORODS IN THE CHANNELS OF SBA-15 BY SUPERCRITICAL FLUID DEPOSITION

Abstract

Copper nanoparticles and nanorods were prepared in the one-dimensional channels of SBA-15 supported by a modified supercritical fluid deposition (SCFD) method. In this approach, cheap and widely available copper nitrate, which is insoluble in supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂), was used as the copper source and ethanol as the co-solvent, thus avoiding the employment of expensive and less available scCO₂-soluble precursors. The deposition was carried out at the pressure of 21–25 MPa and temperature of 50°C, followed by calcinations at 500°C and H₂ reduction at 500°C. The results showed that highly dispersed Cu nanoparticles or nanorods were obtained controllably just by varying the deposition time, as characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). On the other hand, when Cu(acac)₂ was used as the precursor and without any co-solvent, only nanoparticles were formed in the channels of SBA-15 no matter how long the deposition time.

Keywords:

• Co-solvent
• Copper
• Nanocomposites
• Nanorods
• Supercritical fluid deposition

Acknowledgment

The authors warmly thank the National Science Foundation of China for its support (20976026, 20976028).