Preparation of Cu-doped MF aerogels by γ-ray irradiation induced reduction method

Cu-doped MF aerogels were successfully synthesized by γ-ray irradiation induced reduction method with different total irradiation doses, which has been confirmed by XRD, ICP-AES and SEM-EDS. The SEM graphs indicate that the reduction of Cu particles in the MF aerogels is small, and they do not reunite in 100 kGy and 200 kGy total irradiation doses. While in higher total irradiation dose (larger than 200 kGy), the reduced Cu will form the metal reunion area in the MF aerogels. The nitrogen adsorption data analysis shows that the specific surface area and the absorption capacity of MF aerogels decrease after Cu doping, which means that Cu particles fill part of the mesopore and micropore of MF aerogels. The content of Cu in the MF aerogels after irradiation is increasing with a increasing total irradiation dose. Besides, at the same irradiation dose rate, different total irradiation doses will affect the contents and morphology of Cu in MF aerogels. (authors)