Preparation and characterization of copper nanoparticles via the liquid phase plasma method

Polycrystalline copper nanoparticles were synthesized from copper chloride dihydrate solution using the liquid phase plasma reduction method. A bipolar pulsed power supply with tungsten electrodes was used to generate discharge in the aqueous solutions. While large size of dendrite-shaped copper nanoparticles were mostly observed in the initial stage and particle size decreased with discharge time. The particles were dispersed with less and less small particles by the addition of CTAB and anisotropic shapes nanoparticles were mostly observed at long time plasma-treated with high concentration of surfactant. Many spots could be seen in the selected area diffraction pattern (SADP) for polycrystalline particles.