In-situ Thermolysis Preparation of Carbon Capsulated Nano-copper and Its Stability

Nano-copper-carbon composites (NCCC) was prepared by one-step pyrolysis in nitrogen atmosphere using natural cotton fiber with adsorbate copper sulfate as template. The carbon coated nano-Cu or micro-Cu was in situ prepared by taking cotton fiber with adsorbate copper sulfate as pyrolytic carbon source and commercial nano-copper or micro-copper as Cu source. The stability of the prepared material was characterized by TEM, XRD and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that NCCC is a typical material with carbon coated nano-Cu core-shell structure, and the carbon coated nano- or micron-Cu materials can be prepared by in-situ pyrolysis, which further confirmed that the pyrolysis atmosphere of cotton fiber could act as carbon source and in-situ reducing agent at the same time. And the oxidation resistance of carbon coated material was verified：the formation of carbon shells allows NCCC to maintain the phase composition of copper and cuprous oxide after exposure to air for 180 days or water for 35 days, and the commercial Cu nanoparticles covered with carbon shells have not been oxidized after 120 days of exposure to air. © 2022 Chinese Journal of Materials Research. All rights reserved.