Structural and morphological properties of Cu1-xAlxO nanostructures prepared by sol-gel method

Abstract

In this study, the sol-gel process has been adopted for the synthesis of Cu1-xAlxO nanostructures (0≤ x ≤ 0.90, in steps of 0.10). The system revealed pure CuO phase with monoclinic structure. Al2O3 phase and copper oxide (Cu2O) were developed at higher substituent concentrations till x=0.40. Structural properties were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and morphological properties by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Average crystallite size from the range of 12.65 nm to 22.9 nm was calculated by Scherer formula. The SEM images indicated that the Cu1-xAlxO possessed nanoparticles like structure, i.e. it contained some pores or voids and vacancies caused by a difference in experimental conditions. Results of EDX revealed the presence of Aluminum (Al), oxygen (O) and copper (Cu) elements in Cu1-xAlxO and the data showed that the nanoparticles were nearly stoichiometric.