Synthesis of Nano Metal Powder by Electrochemical Reduction of Metal Oxides

Abstract

This work has attempted to find a new low temperature reduction process for fabrication of Cu nanopowder from fine CuO powder. For this purpose, we used electrochemical reduction method which is conducted in an electrolyte of NaCl aqueous solution at room temperature. It was found that ball-milled CuO powder (particle size similar to100 nm and grain size similar to40 nm) was completely reduced under the conditions of 20 V power, 0.5 mol NaCl solution and 2 h reaction time, producing Cu nanopowder (particle size similar to80 nm and crystallite size similar to25 nm). Simultaneously, we observed that sintering of nanopowders occurred during the reduction process, leading to agglomeration of nanopowder. Based upon the experimental results, the correlation between electrochemical reduction process and its related powder characteristics was discussed in terms of material transport.