Synthesis and characterization of MCM-41 decorated with CuO particles

CuO particles have decorated on the external surface of MCM-41 by in situ introducing cupric nitrate during the hydrothermal synthesis followed by the calcination. The textural and structural properties of CuO/MCM-41 are compared with those of pure MCM-41. The results show that CuO particles are about 40 nm in size and are not agglomerated. The addition of cupric nitrate to the synthesis gel leads to materials with somewhat reduced quality as evidenced from X-ray diffraction patterns and nitrogen adsorption measurements. CuO/MCM-41 is less ordered relative to pure MCM-41 and there are inter-aggregate pores resulting in a higher average pore diameter in the material. The formation of CuO particles on the external surface of MCM-41 and the possible reason for the less ordered structure of CuO/MCM-41 are also discussed in the present paper.