Direct Fabrication of Cobalt Oxide Nanoparticles Employing Sucrose as a Combustion Fuel

Abstract

Combustion method has been used as a fast and facile method to prepare nanocrystalline Co3O4 spinel employing sucrose as a combustion fuel. The products were characterized by thermal analyses (TGA and DTA), X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Experimental results revealed that the molar ratio of fuel/oxidizer (F/O) plays an important role in controlling the crystallite size of Co3O4 nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the crystallite size of Co3O4 nanocrystals was in the range of 13–32 nm. X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of CoO phase with spinel Co3O4. The effect of calcination temperature on crystallite size and morphology has been, also, discussed.