Review of Copper Nanopowder Synthesis by Chemical and Electrochemical Reduction Methods

Among metal nanopowder, copper nanopowder has a variety of application because of its special catalytic, electrical and thermal conductivity and optical properties. The convenient synthesis methods of this material with controlling particle size and crystal structure are chemical and electrochemical methods. In chemical method, the nanopowders are synthesized via reduction of a salt of the metal catione. In the electrochemistry method, the metal nanopowder is prepared on the cathode surface using an appropriate current density in the electrolyte. The literatures show that the effective synthesis parameters in the chemical methods are reductive material, stabilizer, temperature, kind of metal salt and solvent. These parameters in the electrochemical method are temperature, current density, kind of electrolyte and electrodes. In this work, a literature review is done on mechanism of these synthesis methods and specifications of operating conditions on the structure of nanopowders.