Synthesis of Copper(0) Nanoparticles in Nanoporous Nickel Phosphate VSB-1

Abstract

Copper(0) nanoparticles in nanoporous nickel phosphate VSB-1 were prepared by the methods of ion exchange and hydrogen reduction. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) results show that the crystal structure of VSB-1 was well retained after the encapsulation of copper nanoparticles and no apparent evidence of crystalline copper was observed. The Cu 2p core level binding energies were consistent with elemental Cu(0) appear in the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data. Room temperature ultra violet visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectrum is characteristic of Cu(0) nanoparticles [1, 2]. Nanoporous material VSB-1 is an excellent host to synthesize metal or metal oxide nanoparticles due to its homogeneous nanopores and its high thermal stability.