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Optical Properties and Fabrication of Cuprous Oxide Nanoparticles by Microemulsion Method
Author(s) -
Suzuki Keigo,
Tanaka Nobuhiko,
Ando Akira,
Takagi Hiroshi
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2011.04413.x
Subject(s) - microemulsion , fabrication , nanoparticle , materials science , oxide , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , metallurgy , pulmonary surfactant , engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Well‐crystallized cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) nanoparticles were successfully fabricated using a microemulsion (ME) method. A solution containing copper (I) element for hydrolysis reaction in small water droplets was obtained using copper (I) acetate as the raw material with the appropriate addition of chelating agents ( n ‐propylamine or benzylamine). A transparent yellowish suspension containing Cu 2 O nanoparticles (ME‐Cu 2 O suspension) was prepared at room temperature, using cyclohexane or benzene as a hydrophobic solvent. The average sizes of the Cu 2 O nanoparticles obtained in this case were estimated to be 3.9 and 6.2 nm, respectively. Cu 2 O thin film (average size=24.6 nm) and a hybrid composite of Cu 2 O nanoparticles with a polymer matrix (average size=5.5 nm) were also prepared from a ME‐Cu 2 O suspension. Optical absorption study revealed that direct band gaps of the Cu 2 O thin film (2.50 eV) and the hybrid composite (2.65 eV) were much greater than that of bulk Cu 2 O (2.17 eV), as a result of quantum size effect in Cu 2 O. The photoluminescence of the obtained Cu 2 O nanoparticles was measured at 12 K. The present study provides a new promising method to fabricate well‐crystallized Cu 2 O nanoparticles of single nanometer sizes.