A. Fernández-Osorio

CuO nanoparticles with PAMAM dendrimers

Abstract An easy pathway to synthesize a variety of cupric oxide (CuO) nanoshapes by a one-step wet chemical method is reported. CuO nanoparticles and nanorods were obtained from CuCl2 in a mixture of water and DMSO in the absence of a base at room temperature. 1-D CuO nanostructures resembling wires inside tubes, or nanopea pods, were shaped when polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers of generation 2 (16-NH2 end groups) or 2.5 (32-COO− end groups) were added to the CuO colloids. The evolution in time of the different nanostructures was followed by UV–visible spectroscopy. The XRD patterns, Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy show clear evidence that all nanoshapes obtained in this work are composed by CuO. This method is a simple, versatile, and economical alternative for the fabrication of CuO nanostructures and might provide a practical reference for the controlled synthesis of other nanoarchitectures.