Size and Shape-Dependent Solubility of CuO Nanostructures
Jindřich Leitner,
David Sedmidubský,
Ondřej Jankovský
Affiliations
Jindřich Leitner
Department of Solid State Engineering, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Technická 5, 166 28 Praha 6, Czech Republic
David Sedmidubský
Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic
Ondřej Jankovský
Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Technická 5, 166 28 Prague 6, Czech Republic
In our theoretical study, the enhanced solubility of CuO nanoparticles in water saturated by air is predicted based on a simple thermodynamic model. CuO is considered in the form of nanoparticles with various shapes. The interfacial energy of a solid CuO/dilute aqueous solution interface was assessed by applying the average CuO surface energy and contact angle of a sessile drop of water. The equilibrium CuO solubility was calculated using Gibbs energy minimization technique. For the smallest spherical nanoparticles considered in this work (r = 2 nm), the solubility is significantly higher than the solubility of bulk material. In the case of cylindrical nanoparticles, the solubility increase is even more considerable. The CuO spherical nanoparticles solubility was also calculated using the Ostwald−Freundlich equation which is known to overestimate the solubility as discussed in this contribution.
