Facile synthesis of copper nanoparticles in glycerol at room temperature: formation mechanismElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c4ra16919k

• Main Authors: Ong, Huei Ruey, Rahman Khan, Md. Maksudur, Ramli, Ridzuan, Du, Yonghua, Xi, Shibo, Yunus, Rosli Mohd
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c4ra16919k

A copper sol is usually synthesized by the reduction of a copper precursor with a suitable reducing agent in the presence of a stabilizer. There are few reports regarding the preparation of copper nanoparticles in glycerol without using a stabilizing agent, but at elevated temperatures. The formation of reduced copper (Cu 0 ) is usually verified by a UV-vis spectrophotometer where a 'red copper sol' was formed. In the present paper we synthesized the copper sol at room temperature in a glycerol medium using hydrazine as a reducing agent. The chemical states of copper in the sol and their composition were analyzed by X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) with the linear composition fitting method. A series-parallel mechanism of the reaction was proposed. An average particle size of 5 ± 1 nm was visualized via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A copper sol is usually synthesized by the reduction of a copper precursor with a suitable reducing agent in the presence of a stabilizer.