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Controlled Synthesis of Carbon‐Encapsulated Copper Nanostructures by Using Smectite Clays as Nanotemplates
Author(s) -
Tsoufis Theodoros,
Colomer JeanFrançois,
Maccallini Enrico,
Jankovič Lubos,
Rudolf Petra,
Gournis Dimitrios
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201103899
Subject(s) - copper , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , materials science , nanostructure , catalysis , clay minerals , raman spectroscopy , chemical engineering , metal , powder diffraction , carbon fibers , thermal decomposition , acetylene , nanotechnology , mineralogy , metallurgy , chemistry , crystallography , composite material , organic chemistry , composite number , physics , optics , engineering
Rhomboidal and spherical metallic‐copper nanostructures were encapsulated within well‐formed graphitic shells by using a simple chemical method that involved the catalytic decomposition of acetylene over a copper catalyst that was supported on different smectite clays surfaces by ion‐exchange. These metallic‐copper nanostructures could be separated from the inorganic support and remained stable for months. The choice of the clay support influenced both the shape and the size of the synthesized Cu nanostructures. The synthesized materials and the supported catalysts from which they were produced were studied in detail by TEM and SEM, powder X‐ray diffraction, thermal analysis, as well as by Raman and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy.