Polymethacrylic acid as a new precursor of CuO nanoparticles

Polymethacrylic acid and its copper complexes have been synthesized and characterized. These complexes have been used as precursors to produce CuO nanoparticles by thermal decomposition in air. The stages of decompositions and the calcination temperature of the precursors have been determined from thermal analyses (TGA). The obtained CuO nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD showed a monoclinic structure with particle size 8–20 nm for the synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are catalytically active in decomposing hydrogen peroxide and a mechanism of decomposition has been suggested.