The Structure of Nanocomposites with Bimetallic Cu–Ni Nanoparticles Obtained by Chemical Reduction

Chemical reduction in an aqueous solution of a polymer is a relatively available method of synthesizing composites based on Cu/CuO x nanoparticles. The microstructure and composition of composites based on bimetallic Cu–Ni nanoparticles, obtained by chemical reduction in an aqueous solution of a polymer, have been studied by transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, in combination with X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The investigations have been carried out for sol and dried powder; it is shown that the sol contains dendritic structures, composed of rounded polycrystalline nanoparticles 20–80 nm in size, which, in turn, consist of copper oxide crystallites. The powder, obtained after centrifugation and drying, consists of relatively large nanoparticle conglomerates more than 200 nm in size, which are composed of fcc-Cu and Cu 2 O crystallites, monoclinic CuO, and fcc-NiO. Cu 2 O and CuO particles generally occupy the inner and outer parts of nanoparticles, respectively. The obtained composites can be used as catalysts. The range of their application is wider than that of copper-based catalysts.