Renewable decyl-alcohol templated synthesis of Si-Cu core-shell nanocomposite

• Main Authors: Salim M.A., Misran H., Othman S.Z., Shah N.N.H., Razak N.A.A., Manap A.
• Other Authors: 57197124320
• Format: Conference paper
• Published: Institute of Physics Publishing 2023
• Subjects: Amorphous silicon; Catalysts; Copper; Coremaking; Silicon; Sol-gel process; Ultraviolet spectroscopy; X ray diffraction; Amorphous silica; Core-shell nanocomposites; Homogeneous deposition; Modified sol-gel method; Monodispersed silica spheres; Surface modifiers; Templated synthesis; UV-VIS absorption spectra; Absorption; catalyst; copper; deposition; nanotechnology; particle size; renewable resource; silica; surface area; surfactant; ultraviolet radiation; X-ray diffraction; Silica

Monodispersed silica spheres with particles size of ca. 450 nm were successfully synthesized using a modified St�ber method. The synthesized monodispersed silica spheres were successfully coated with copper using modified sol-gel method employing nonsurfactant surface modifiers and catalyst. A renewable palm oil based decyl-alcohol (C10) as nonsurfactant surface modifiers and catalyst were used to modify the silica surfaces prior to coating with copper. The X-ray diffraction patterns of Si-Cu core-shell exhibited a broad peak corresponding to amorphous silica networks and monoclinic CuO phase. It was found that samples modified in the presence of 1 ml catalyst exhibited homogeneous deposition. The surface area of core materials (SiO2) was at ca. 7.04 m2/g and Si-Cu core-shell was at ca. 8.21 m2/g. The band gap of samples prepared with and without catalyst was calculated to be ca. 2.45 eV and ca. 3.90 eV respectively based on the UV-vis absorption spectrum of the product. � Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.