Spectral characterization of mechanically synthesized MoO3-CuO nanocomposite

In this work, MoO3-CuO metal oxide composite nanopowders are prepared by simple mechanochemical assisted synthesis technique with the stoichiometric weight ratios of MoO3 and CuO as 2.3: 1 and 3.3: 1, respectively. The structural and spectroscopic properties of the as-synthesised samples are characterised by XRD, SEM with EDS, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy and TGA/DTA. X-ray diffraction pattern demonstrates the peaks correspond to orthorhombic phase of a-MoO3 and monoclinic phase of bCuO. The average crystalline sizes of the 2.3: 1 and 3.3: 1 samples were found to be 16 and 24 nm, respectively, which are supported by Williamson-Hall (W-H) calculations. The correlations between the milling rotational speeds with morphological characteristics are revealed by the SEM images. The fundamental modes of Mo=O and Cu-O were analysed by FT-IR. Raman analysis has provided the qualitative information about the structure of the mixed oxide composite. Thermogravimetry analysis and Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) of MoO3-CuO have revealed that the dual phase mixed oxide composite is stable up to 709 degrees C with a negligible weight loss. Based on the above, it can be inferred that the synthesised mixed lubricous oxide nanocomposite could be used as a solid lubricant at elevated temperatures.