Impact of Reducing Agent on the Synthesis of Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles by Chemical Precipitation Method

This present work reports the synthesis ad characterization of Nickel oxide nanoparticles by chemical precipitation method from nickel chloride by using two different reducing agents, such as ammonia (NH3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The prepared nanoparticles are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) techniques. XRD analysis showed that the prepared nanoparticles are crystalline in nature, and the average crystallite size for NiO nanoparticles with NaOH and NiO nanoparticles with NH3 is found to be 25.3 nm and 27.54 nm, respectively. FE-SEM analysis revealed that the prepared nanoparticles are spherical in shape with agglomeration. The presence of functional groups of the prepared nanoparticles is confirmed by using FT-IR analysis. The band at 450 cm-1 corresponds to the stretching vibration on Ni-OH, which confirms the presence of NiO, and the elemental analysis confirms the presence of nickel and oxygen elements in the prepared nickel oxide nanoparticles without any Impurities. The synthesized nickel oxide nanoparticles may be used in micro-supercapacitors, electrochromic coatings, and chemical sensing devices.