Copper nanorods have been synthe-sized in mesoporous SBA-15 by a low-temperature metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) employing copper (II) acetylacetonate, Cu(acac)2, and hydrogen as a precursor and reactant gas, re- spectively. The hydrogen plays an important role in chemical reduction of oganometallic precursor which enhances mass transfer in the interior of the SBA-15 porous substrate. Such copper nanostructures are of great potentials in the semiconductor due to their unusual optical, magnetic and electronic properties. In addition, it has been found that chemically modi- fying the substrate surface by carbon deposition is crucial to such synthesis of copper nanostructures in the interior of the SBA-15, which is able to change the surface properties of SBA-15 from hydrophilic to hydrophobic to promote the adsorption of organic cupric precursor. It has also been found that the copper nanoparticles deposited on the external sur- face are almost eliminated and the copper nanorods are more distinct while the product was treated with ammonia. This approach could be achieved under a mild condition: a low temperature (400℃) and vac-uum (2 kPa) which is extremely milder than the con- ventional method. It actually sounds as a foundation which is the first time to synthesize a copper nanorod at a mild condition of a low reaction temperature and pressure.
