The use of CTAB to control the size of copper nanoparticles and the concentration of alkylthiols on their surfaces

Copper nanoparticles protected by self-assembled monolayers of decanethiol have been prepared by the controlled reduction of aqueous copper salts using the modified Brust synthesis. For comparison, the nanoparticles are synthesized on different concentration of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). TEM, XPS, XRD, IR have been employed to investigate the structure and formation of these nanoparticles. It was found that CTAB plays a critical role in controlling stability and ease to formation 3D SAMs during synthesis.