A simple wet chemical route for large-scale synthesis of Cu(OH)2 nanowires

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0009-2614(02)01571-3

Polycrystalline Cu(OH)₂ nanowires with a ～ 8 nm avg dia and lengths of up to hundreds of micrometers were synthesized using a simple chemical route at ambient temperature. Several comparative experiments were performed to study the effects on the Cu(OH)₂ particle size and shape of PH, NH₃, and SO₄/^2- at different concentration. NH₃ and NaOH were required to obtain the Cu(OH)₂ nanowires. Cu²⁺ ion formed complex with anions and ligands present in the precipitating solutions, the bond strength of which follows the order OH^- > NH₃ > SO₄/^2-. The most stable species was the square-planar amino complex [Cu(NH₃)₄/²⁺. At pH > 8, a large number of nuclei was formed instantaneously that grow to reasonably uniform, but when the concentration of NaOH was above 4 M, only large particle formed because the formation of cuprate ions at high pH led to lower supersaturation and a smaller number of nuclei that grow to large Cu(OH)₂ particles.