Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticle by Multiple Thermal Decomposition and Electroless Ag Plating

Received 26 January, 2017 Revised 13 February, 2017 Accepted 28 February, 2017 Abstract >> To synthesize copper nanoparticle a thermal decomposition was adopted. And to solve the problem of surface oxidation of the synthesized copper powder an electroless Ag plating method was used. The size and shape of synthesized Cu nanoparticle were affected by the size of copper oxalate used as a precursor, reaction solvent, reaction temperature and amount of reducing agent. Especially reaction solvent is dominant factor to control shape of Cu nanoparticle which can have the shapes of sphere, polygon and rod. In case of glycerol, it produced spherical shape of about 500 nm in size. Poly ethylene produced uniform polygonal shape in about 700 nm and ethylene glycol produced both of polygon and rod having size range between 500 and 1500 nm. The silver coated copper powder showed a high electrical conductivity.