Sonochemical Preparation of Copper(II) Chromite Nanocatalysts and Particle Size Optimization via Taguchi Method

In the present study, copper chromite (CuCr(2)O(4)a (TM) CuO) as a bimetallic nanocatalyst was synthesized by sonochemical technique using copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate and ammonium dichromate as the precursors. The Taguchi statistical design was subsequently utilized for optimization of the procedure and obtaining the smaller nanoparticles. The microstructure and morphological properties of the product were investigated by X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and dynamic light scattering techniques. The spherical CuCr2O4 center dot CuO nanocrystals have highly purity with the average particle size of 11 nm. The specific surface area of the prepared sample at optimum conditions was calculated according to the BET procedure and found to be about 40.13 m(2)/g.