Enviroment-Friendly Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Nickel Oxide and Its Antibacterial Properties

Abstract

This study reports an environment-friendly synthetic strategy to process nickel oxide nanocrystals. A mesoporous nickel oxide nanostructure was synthesized using an environmentally benign biomimetic method. We used a natural rambutan peel waste resource as a raw material to ligate nickel ions to form nickel-ellagate complexes. The direct decomposition of the obtained complexes at 700 oC, 900 oC and 1100 oC in a static air atmosphere resulted in mesoporous nickel oxide nanostructures. The formation of columnar mesoporous NiO with a concentric stacked doughnuts architecture was purely dependent on the suitable direct decomposition temperature at 1100 oC when the synthesis was carried out. The prepared NiO nanocrystals were coated on cotton fabric and their antibacterial activity was also analyzed. The NiO nanoparticle-treated cotton fabric exhibited good antibacterial and wash durability performance.