Investigation of catalytic and fuel additive applications of copper/copper(I) oxide/copper(II) oxide (Cu/CuO/Cu2O) microspheres synthesized by hydrothermal method using sucrose as template

Abstract

Role of sucrose in sequential reduction of copper (II) ions is investigated. Copper/copper(I) oxide/copper(II) oxide (Cu/CuO/Cu _2 O) microspheres are synthesized via hydrothermal method using sucrose as template. Size of microparticles lies in 9–16 μ m range. Formation mechanism of spherical architecture is also proposed. Synthesized spheres are used in two major applications: (i) catalyst for degradation of methyl red (MR) and methyl blue (MB) (ii) fuel additive in commercial diesel. The rate constant of degradation of both dyes (MB and MR) is not found equal under similar conditions. Results indicated that increased concentrations of microparticles in diesel significantly affect properties.

Keywords

• mixed oxide
• spherical
• copper oxide
• catalyst
• fuel