Moderate temperature synthesis of nanocrystalline Co3O4 via gel hydrothermal oxidation

A novel gel hydrothermal oxidation route has been developed for preparation of nanocrystalline Co3O4 through the reaction between Co(OH)2 gel and hydroperoxide in a hydrothermal system at 180 °C. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) studies indicated that the product was well-crystallized cubic phase of Co3O4 with a cell constant of a=8.0722 Å. The transmission electron micrograph (TEM) showed that the product consisted of monodispersive nanoparticles below 4 nm.