Facile synthesis of Cu nanoparticles encapsulated into carbonized bacterial cellulose with excellent oxidation resistance and stability

A facile one-step method is proposed to prepare well-dispersed Cu nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) encapsulated into carbonized bacterial cellulose (CBC). Bacterial cellulose (BC) is employed as a template, carbon source and the product of thermal decomposition of BC functions as reducing agent and protecting agent, with Cu nitrate employed as the metal precursors. The Cu-NPs are uniformly dispersed in the fibrous network of CBC and the size of the Cu-NPs can be controlled by regulating the experimental conditions. The detailed structures and morphologies of Cu-NPs encapsulated into CBC are systematically characterized. The results demonstrate that the obtained composites are perfect core-shell structure, which show excellent oxidation resistance and stability.