simple and facile method to synthesize Co₃O₄ nanoparticles from metal benzoate dihydrazinate complex as a precursor

This report describes the novel synthesis of cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄) nanoparticles from corresponding metal benzoate dihydrazinate complex as a precursor followed by thermal decomposition. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed nearly uniform nanoparticles with an average particle size of around 20nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) demonstrated that the nanoparticles were composed of pure cubic phase polycrystalline Co₃O₄. The nanoparticles were also confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. In principle, this simple and inexpensive synthetic procedure can be employed to prepare other transition metal oxide nanoparticles.