The surface and bulk properties of CuO ribbons and ZnO particles mixture using physical adsorption and gamma ray attenuation techniques

In the present work, we investigate the surface, and bulk structural properties of composite cupric oxide ribbons, and zinc oxide particles. The composites are synthesized using the technique of solution combustion. Crystallographic phases are confirmed using the x-ray diffraction technique and proved the formation of monoclinic cupric oxide and hexagonal zinc oxide crystallites. Scanning electron microscope and high-resolution transmission electron microscope are used to examine the morphology of the prepared materials. Composite mixtures of raw particles cupric oxide and zinc oxide are used as benchmark morphologically-alike composite materials. The specific surface area values of the studied materials are investigated using nitrogen gas adsorption at 77 K while the spectroscopic gamma ray attenuation is used to determine the effective density of the different samples. Zinc oxide particles are dispersed on cupric oxide ribbons and cause nonlinear dependence of the specific surface area and density on the composition ratio due to the physical contact between particles, especially at the voids and the nodes of the fibrous ribbons network.