Discovery of green and novel synthetic routes for nanoparticles (NPs) has drawn a lot of interest due to the
distinct nano size and unusual features as well as applications of such particles. Ionic liquid-based
surfactants (ILBSs) and gemini ionic liquid-based surfactants (GILBSs) have become some of the best
choices to be used as inducers or dispersing agents for the fabrication of nanoparticles. This work
involves the synthesis, spectroscopic characterization, and surface property evaluation of three novel
GILBSs (4a–c), which incorporate the imidazolium cation as the polar head with an ethylene spacer. The
simple synthetic route includes, first, alkylating imidazole-N1 with the as-prepared fatty alkyl
chloroacetates followed by quaternization of two equivalents of imidazole-N2 with ethylene dibromide.
Investigations into the compounds' surface characteristics and thermodynamic parameters were carried
out. The prepared GILBSs, 4a–c, were then used as inducers at various concentrations for the
preparation of cuprous oxide nanoparticles. The size and shape of the produced NPs were examined by
X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis in each case to study the
effect of concentration on the NP morphology and to determine the best concentration for the NPs
fabrication. The XRD patterns of the produced Cu2O NPs contain distinguishable peaks, which refer to
crystalline Cu2O. Also, TEM images show that the obtained Cu2O is present in form of well dispersed
nanorod particles with sizes about 55 and 23 nm at concentrations of 60 and 200 ppm, respectively |
