Polyol–mediated synthesis of nickel oxide nanoparticles through aqueous sol–gel route

BACKGROUND: In this work, nickel oxide nanoparticles were prepared by polyol mediated aqueous route of sol–gel process using nickel nitrate hexahydrate as precursor, a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and water as solvent and glycerol for making polyol medium followed by calcination at various temperatures ranging from 500 to 900 °C. Characterization was carried out using X–ray diffractometry, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetry and field emission scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: The results confirmed the formation of face-cantered cubic structure of nickel oxide with its complete conversion after calcination at 900 °C; significant variation in the surface morphology was observed with the increasing calcination temperature. CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed that the aqueous sol–gel route using polyol system followed by calcination at ambient temperatures lead to the successful synthesis of nickel oxide nanoparticles.