Synthesis of nanocrystalline CuO-ZnO mixed metal oxide powder by a homogeneous precipitation method

Nanocrystalline CuO-ZnO mixed metal oxide powder was successfully synthesized by a simple homogeneous precipitation method in short precipitation time. The nanocrystalline sample with unique morphology was obtained at low calcination temperature (350 degrees C). Morphology and specific surface area of the samples strongly depend on the calcination temperature. Specific surface area is also affected by the precipitation time. The samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, FT-IR. spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, surface area measurements, field emission scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The synthesized powder samples exhibit good catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol in the presence of sodium borohydride. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.