Effects of current on arc fabrication of Cu nanoparticles

Abstract

Arc-fabricated copper nanoparticles (Cu Nps) size, morphology and the crystalline structure, as well as the yields of Nps appear sensitive to the applied currents (50-160A) in distilled water. The results indicate that the sizes of Cu Nps are directly proportional to the currents employed. At 50A, TEM, XRD, and SEM analyses show fabrication of relatively purest, the most dispersed, face-centered cubic (fcc) brown Cu Nps with rather smallest average size of 20nm. At the same current, the TGA-DTA analysis reveals neither weight loss nor gain, indicating thermal stability of the fabricated Cu Nps. © 2010 M. Z. Kassaee et al.