Investigations on generation of copper nano-particles by pulsed electrolytic dissolution

Abstract

This thesis reports a simple, novel, cost effective and eco-friendly electrolytic synthesis of copper nanoparticles using copper sulphate as metal precursor. The synthesis rate is much faster than other methods and this approach is suitable for large scale production. Generated nano-particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to analyze size, morphology and chemical composition of the particles. The experimental work was divided into pilot and main experiment. The pilot experiments were conducted to study the effect of electrolyte concentration, inter electrode gap (IEG) and time on the nano-particles shape and size. Average minimum size of the particles in the pilot experiments were found to be 150 nm at identified optimum value of the parameters; 5 wt.% of electrolytic concentration; 30 minutes of operating time; and 10 mm of IEG. The main experiments were conducted to optimize the size of the particles to avoid agglomeration of the particles. Average minimum size of the particles in the main experiments was found to be 70 nm at identified optimum value of the parameters; 8 V of voltage; 4 ms of pulse-on time and 8 ms of pulse-off time. Shape of the particles was found to be irregular. There was no direct linear relationship between these six parameters.XRD results shows three peaks at 2θ values of 44, 51and 74 deg corresponding to (111), (200), and (220) planes of copper. Peaks obtained are sharp which show copper particles are highly crystalline. The particles size was in the range of 70 nm to 800 nm and irregular in shape.