The Effect of Polyvinylpyrrolidone on the Formation of Copper Nanoplates in Wet-Chemical Reduction Method

In this work, we report synthesis and characterization of copper nanoparticles in polymer matrix by wet-chemical reduction method using ascorbic acid as reducing agent, copper (II) sulfate as metal precursor and polyvinylpyrrolidone k-30 (PVP K-30) as surfactant agent. The reaction was carried out in a high-speed stirring mixture at room temperature under nitrogen atmosphere. Characterization of the samples was carried by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The results indicated that, the molar ratio of precursor to surfactant plays a crucial role in the homogeneous growth of copper nanoparticles aggregates and the best condition for formation of homogeneous copper nanoparticles aggregates in polymer matrix was provided for a molar ratio of precursor to surfactant, CuSO4.5H2O/PVP= 70/1 using ascorbic acid as reducing agent. The average particle size of zero valence Cu NPs calculated using Scherrer's formula was about 7.9 nm.