Electrochemical synthesis and characterization of zinc oxalate nanoparticles

A rapid, clean and simple electrodeposition method was designed for the synthesis of zinc oxalate nanoparticles. Zinc oxalate nanoparticles in different size and shapes were electrodeposited by electrolysis of a zinc plate anode in sodium oxalate aqueous solutions. It was found that the size and shape of the product could be tuned by electrolysis voltage, oxalate ion concentration, and stirring rate of electrolyte solution. A Taguchi orthogonal array design was designed to identify the optimal experimental conditions. The morphological characterization of the product was carried out by scanning electron microscopy. UV–vis and FT-IR spectroscopies were also used to characterize the electrodeposited nanoparticles. The TG–DTA studies of the nanoparticles indicated that the main thermal degradation occurs in two steps over a temperature range of 350–430 °C. In contrast to the existing methods, the present study describes a process which can be easily scaled up for the production of nano-sized zinc oxalate powder.

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► Synthesis of zinc oxalate nanoparticles via electrolysis of a zinc plate anode in sodium oxalate solutions.
► Design of a Taguchi orthogonal array to identify the optimal experimental conditions.
► Controlling the size and shape of particles via applied voltage and oxalate concentration.
► Characterization of zinc oxalate nanoparticles by SEM, UV–vis, FT-IR and TG–DTA.