Characterization of sol–gel derived CuO/SiO2 nanostructure on temperature

Various concentrations of copper are embedded into silica matrix to xerogels form using copper source—Cu(NO3)2 3H2O. The xerogel samples are prepared by hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) with determination of new molar ratio of components by the sol–gel method. CuO/SiO2 nanocomposite is prepared with mixture of components with new molar ratio of H2O/TEOS to be 6.2. In this investigation, the necessary amount of trihydrated copper nitrate is added to the solution in such a manner that the concentration of the copper oxide in final solution reaches 1, 2 and 5 wt% (samples A, B and C, respectively). After ambient drying, the gel samples are heated from 60 to 1,000 °C at a slow heating rate (50 °C/h). Thermal treatment effect is characterized by Fourier transmission infrared, thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, surface analysis and thermal program reduction methods at different temperatures.