Carbonate-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanoporous CuO Microstructures and Their Application in Catalysis

We have demonstrated a facile carbonate-assisted hydrothermal route for synthesis of well-defined nanoporous copper oxide microstructures with high surface area. The nanoporous CuO microstructures were synthesised by adding sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO(3)) to an aqueous solution of copper chloride (CuCl(2)) in the presence of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) at 300 degrees C. The introduction of NaHCO(3) is critical for the successful synthesis of porous nanoarchitectures owing to the formation of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) gas during the synthesis process. The structure and morphology of CuO are very sensitive to the concentration of NaHCO(3) and PVP, as well as to the molecular weight of PVP. The nanoporous CuO product shows higher catalytic activity than other types of CuO materials because of its porous structure. It is believed that this method will provide a simple and versatile approach to large-scale production of CuO with high surface area by means of a facile hydrothermal route.