Synthesis of Highly Monodisperse Nickel and Nickel Phosphide Nanoparticles

Nickel and nickel phosphide nanoparticles are highly useful in various fields, owing to their catalytic and magnetic properties. Although several synthetic protocols to produce nickel and nickel phosphide nanoparticles have been previously proposed, controllable synthesis of nanoparticles using these methods is challenging. Herein, we synthesized highly monodisperse nickel and nickel phosphide nanoparticles via thermal decomposition of nickel–oleylamine–phosphine complexes in organic solvents. The size and composition of the nickel and nickel phosphide nanoparticles were easily controlled by changing the aging temperature, precursor concentration, and phosphine surfactant type. Large-sized monodisperse nickel nanoparticles obtained using our method were successfully applied for the purification of histidine-tagged proteins.