Solvents Effect on the Morphology and Stability of Cu/CuO Nanoparticles Synthesized at High Fluence Laser Ablation

Cu/CuO NPs were synthesized by ablating Cu target using nanosecond Nd:YAG pulsed laser operating at 1064 nm with 8 ns pulse duration in three different solvents viz: ethylene glycol (EG), deionized water (DI) and ethanol (Eth). The effects of these three solvents at high laser fluence of 40 J/cm(2) was investigated to study the stability and morphology of nanoparticles using microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The morphology of these nanoparticles are dependent on the physical properties of solvents (like viscosity, conductivity, polarity and enthalpy) used in laser ablation. EG and DI shows tadpole and necklace like structure whereas in Eth hollow structures were observed. The crystallinity of nanoparticles were confirmed by HRTEM, SAED and XRD analysis. In all the three solvents the characteristic absorption and emission peaks of Cu and CuO nanoparticles were observed and have been elaborately discussed in this paper. In addition, the detailed growth kinematics of nanoparticles involved in the process of laser ablation technique have been highlighted.