A simple approach for sonochemical synthesis of Cu2O nanoparticles with high catalytic properties

•Simple and efficient protocol for sonochemical synthesis of Cu2O nanoparticles.•Additive free, capping agent free synthesis of spherical Cu2O nanoparticles.•Glycerol acts as a solvent, reducing and capping agent in a reaction.•Cu2O nanoparticles show excellent catalytic activity in N-arylation of imidazole.

A one step, additive free protocol for ultrasound assisted synthesis of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles using glycerol as a green and sustainable solvent has been developed. The glycerol plays multiple roles in nanoparticle synthesis such as solvent, promoter, reducing agent and capping agent. It assists to control the crystal morphology of obtained Cu2O nanoparticles. The Cu2O nanoparticles were characterized with the help of XRD, TEM, HRTEM, EDS, FT-IR, XPS, BET surface area and TGA techniques. This is simple, green, inexpensive and capping agent free method for the synthesis of Cu2O nanoparticles. Furthermore, we showed catalytic applications of prepared Cu2O nanoparticles in catalysis for the coupling reaction between aryl halide and aromatic amine.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide