Preparation and characterization of metallic copper-based aerogel with the building block of nano-crystals

A new class of metallic copper-based aerogel with the building block of nano-crystals and hierarchical porosity was prepared by using CO reduction of the copper oxide aerogel. The aerogel exhibits a typical three-dimensional porous structure with a specific surface area about 189 m(2)/g and pore diameter about 10 nm, which belongs to the mesoporous material. According to the results demonstrated by the high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and the X-ray diffraction (XRD), the aerogel is composed of nano-crystals with cubic structure. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved,