Synthesis of nanocrystalline CuO–ZnO mixed metal oxide powder by a homogeneous precipitation method

Nanocrystalline CuO–ZnO mixed metal oxide powder was successfully synthesized by a simple homogeneous precipitation method in short precipitation time. The nanocrystalline sample with unique morphology was obtained at low calcination temperature (350 °C). Morphology and specific surface area of the samples strongly depend on the calcination temperature. Specific surface area is also affected by the precipitation time. The samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, surface area measurements, field emission scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The synthesized powder samples exhibit good catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol in the presence of sodium borohydride.