Nickel Oxide Nanostructures Synthesized by thermal Oxidation/Limited Fusion Technique

Abstract

In this study, nickel oxide (NiO) nanostructures were synthesized using a thermal oxidation/limited fusion technique. These nanostructures showed highly crystalline, phase-pure face-centered cubic bunsenite structure, with most of the growth happening along the (200) plane. A dense network of interlocking nanoparticles and polyhedral clusters, all smaller than 100 nm, were revealed, which gives the material a high surface-to-volume ratio. The composition was nearly ideal, with a nickel-to-oxygen ratio of about 1:0.94. The synthesized samples were highly transparent in the visible spectrum and had a wide indirect bandgap of 3.85 eV, just a little blue-shifted from bulk NiO as a result of quantum size effects. These results show that thermal oxidation/limited fusion is a solid method to produce robust NiO nanostructures that are well-suited for things like gas sensors, supercapacitors, and optoelectronic devices.