Synthesis of CoO nanoparticles by esterification reaction under solvothermal conditions

A new esterification reaction under solvothermal conditions was first applied to synthesize CoO nanoparticles in this paper. Esterification reaction of cobalt acetate and anhydrous ethanol under solvothermal conditions results in the formation of CoO nanoparticles. The concentrations of cobalt acetate, reaction temperature and surfactant to as-synthesized CoO have been explored. SEM, TEM and XRD were employed to characterize the size, morphology and crystalline structure of the as-synthesized CoO nanoparticles. It is revealed that the FCC-structured CoO nanoparticles are of uniform tetragonal projected shape with good dispersion. Typically, CoO nanoparticles with an average size of 35 nm were obtained at 150 °C for 24 h using 0.08 mol/L solution of Co(CH3COO)2·4H2O in ethanol under solvothermal conditions.