Hydrothermal synthesis of single-crystalline nanocubes of Co3O4

The single step hydrothermal synthesis of well-dispersed cobalto-cobaltic oxide (Co3O4) cubic nanocrystals has been reported. Microstructure and phase have been unambiguously characterized by XRD, TEM and Raman spectroscopy. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectrum showed that the as-prepared sample was of cubic spinel structure. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the Co3O4 nanocrystals were cubical with the crystallite size in the range of 20–30 nm. Since the particle size of the powdered samples were found to be equivalent from both TEM and X-ray diffraction technique, it can be expected that the nanocubes are single crystalline. The average BET surface area was found to be 75 m2 g− 1 and the average pore diameter was found to be 15 nm.