A study on the oxidative property using thermogravimetric analysis of NiO nanoparticles prepared by a simple wet chemical method

Abstract

Nanosized NiO particles were synthesised by chemical co-precipitation technique and the particle has been characterized morphologically, elementally, structurally and thermally using High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (HR-SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDAX), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). A green precipitated Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles (NiO NPs) was prepared and the size of the particle was found to be 45 nm and the presence of Ni and O elements were confirmed using the elemental analytic tools like EDX and FTIR in which the existence of water molecules was confirmed from the absorption spectrum. The generated sample's crystal structure was face-centered cubic, and Scherer's equation was used to compute its size, which was found to be 43 nm. Crystal characteristics including crystal parameters (a), interatomic distance (dh,k,l), atomic radius (r) and cell volume (Vc) were also calculated. The weight loss observed from TGA curve signifies the oxidative property of NiO NPs and there is a steady increase in the weight difference versus time difference. The calcination temperature of NiO was determined to be 700⁰C via analysis at the TGA curve's peaks. The activation energy (Ea) was determined using Coats-Redfern method by solving the slope of the graph between log[−log(1−α)T2] and 1000T. With respect to its highly effective capacity, which can be seen when treating with an increase in temperature, NiO may be used as an oxidising and reducing agent in oxidation and reduction processes.