Preparation and characterization of Cu-SiO2 nanoparticles

A room temperature route for doping silica particles with Cu nanoparticles to achieve hybrid structures is introduced. First, silica nanoparticles were synthesized according to the well-known Stober method by hydrolysis and condensation of TEOS in a mixture of ethanol with water, using ammonia as catalyst to initiate the reaction. These SiO2 nanoparticles were dried at 100 degrees C. We measured the size of these nanoparticles with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Second, Cu-SiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by reaction with CuCl2 and SiO2 nanoparticles in presence of catalyst at room temperature for 12 hrs. Results show silica nanoparticles of about 70 nm size with regularly deposited Cu nanoparticles. Cu-SiO2 nanoparticles were investigated with TEM images, energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) spectrum and so on.