Bifunctional hexagonal Ni/NiO nanostructures: influence of the core–shell phase on magnetism, electrochemical sensing of serotonin, and catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Ni(0)/NiO (nickel/nickel oxide) core–shell nanostructures were synthesized through a facile combustible redox reaction. Remarkably, the hetero-phase boundary with different crystalline orientations offered dual properties, which helped in bifunctional catalysis. Presence of a metallic Ni phase changed physicochemical properties and some emerging applications (magnetic properties, optical conductivity, electrochemical sensitivity, catalytic behaviour) could be foreseen. Moreover, formation of a NiO layer on metal surface prevented magnetism-induced aggregation, arrested further oxidation by hindering oxygen diffusion, and acted as a good sorbent to enhance the surface adsorption of the analyte. Hexagonal Ni/NiO nanostructures manifested well-defined ferromagnetic behavior and the catalyst could be collected easily at the end of the catalytic reduction. Ni/NiO core–shell catalysts at the nanoscale had outstanding catalytic performance (reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol) compared with pure NiO catalysts beyond a reaction time of ∼9 min. The estimated sensitivity, limit of detection and limit of quantification towards the electrochemical sensing of serotonin were 0.185, 0.43 and 1.47 μM μA(−1), respectively. These results suggest that a bifunctional Ni/NiO nanostructure could be a suitable catalyst for electrochemical detection of serotonin and reduction of 4-nitrophenol.