Dependence Properties of Sol-Gel Derived CuO@SiO2 Nanostructure to Diverse Concentrations of Copper Oxide

Abstract

Various concentrations of copper oxide were embedded into silica matrix of xerogel forms using copper source Cu(NO3)2·3H2O. The xerogel samples were prepared by hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) with determination of new molar ratios of the components by the sol-gel method. In this paper, three samples of copper oxide were doped into silica matrices using different concentrations. We obtained 10, 20, and 30 wt.% of copper oxide in silica matrices labeled as A, B, and C, respectively. The absorption and transmittance spectra of the gel matrices were treated at different concentrations by Uv-vis spectrophotometer. Quantities of water and transparency in the silica network change the spectral characteristics of Cu2+ ions in the host silica. Absorption spectra of the samples heated to higher concentration complete the conversion of Cu2+ ions to Cu+ ions. The effects of concentration of copper oxide were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and the transmission electron microscope (TEM) micrographs. Also, textural properties of samples were studied by surface area analysis (BET method) at different concentrations.