Facile synthesis of porous copper nanobelts and their catalytic performance

In this paper, porous Cu nanobelts (NBs) have been successfully synthesized by a simple mixed solvent (1,4-dioxane and water) and cationic-anionic pair surfactant (n-undecylenic acid and dodecylamine)-assisted chemical reduction route. The obtained porous Cu NBs are face-centered cubic phase and well crystallined, while their surfaces are partially oxidized to form Cu ₂O. The effect of composition of the mixed solvent, surfactant and NaOH on the Cu nanostructures is systematic investigated. Based on the experimental results, a possible formation mechanism of the porous Cu NBs is proposed. Furthermore, the catalytic property of the Cu ₂O-containing porous Cu NBs is evaluated. The cross-coupling reaction between phenylboronic acid and aqueous ammonia is chosen as the probe reaction. It is found that such the Cu nanostructure possesses good catalytic activity for the cross-coupling reaction at room temperature due to the pore structure and the strong synergistic effect between surface Cu ₂O species and metallic Cu host. Under optimized conditions, the yield and selectivity can reach 100%.