A simple and facile method to synthesize Co3O4 nanoparticles from metal benzoate dihydrazinate complex as a precursor

This report describes the novel synthesis of cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanoparticles from corresponding metal benzoate dihydrazinate complex as a precursor followed by thermal decomposition. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed nearly uniform nanoparticles with an average particle size of around 20 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) demonstrated that the nanoparticles were composed of pure cubic phase polycrystalline Co3O4. The nanoparticles were also confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. In principle, this simple and inexpensive synthetic procedure can be employed to prepare other transition metal oxide nanoparticles. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.