Synthesis of Co<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf>nanowire arrays supported on Ni foam for removal of volatile organic compounds

Abstract

Crystalline Co3O4nanowire arrays freely supported on Ni foam are successfully synthesized using a template-free method. The effects of reaction time, concentration of reactants, and temperature on the morphology of the nanowires are studied. The results indicate that uniform Co3O4nanowires could be synthesized at 90 °C, and a transformation of the samples' morphology from nanoparticles to nanowires to microrods is observed by controlling the concentration of the reactants. The well-ordered nanowires synthesized under the selected reaction conditions are composed of spinel Co3O4with diameters of 500∼580 nm and lengths of 6-8 μm. These nanowires show good catalytic activity for the ozone catalytic oxidation of toluene. © 2012 American Scientific Publishers.