Room-temperature synthesis of nanostructured copper powder through the solid-state reduction of CuO

A simple and versatile mechanochemical process was developed for the synthesis of nanostructured copper powder. Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) was used as solid reducing agent for the reduction of CuO powder. XRD, FTIR and SEM analytical techniques were used for characterization of materials. The results revealed that the reaction occurred after 1 h milling. The main milling product was Cu particles with mean crystallite size of around 35 nm. It was found that the Cu particles were highly aggregated and comprised of regular shapes of Cu nanoparticles