One-pot combustion synthesis of nickel oxide and hematite: From simple coordination compounds to high purity metal oxide nanoparticles

Dejan Jeremic,Marija Suljagic,Ljubica Andjelkovic,Ilija Brceski,Sanja Ostojic,Vladimir Pavlovic,Aleksandar Nikolic,Maja Sumar-Ristovic,Predrag Vulic,Milica Milenkovic

doi:10.2298/sos2004481j

Abstract

This work is the first report of a very simple and fast one-pot synthesis of nickel oxide (NiO) and hematite (?-Fe2O3) nanoparticles by thermal decomposition of transition metal aqua complexes with camphor sulfonate anions. Obtained nanopowders were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform IR analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. X-ray powder diffraction confirmed the formation of high purity NiO and ?-Fe2O3 crystal phases. In the case of ?-Fe2O3, about five times larger average crystallite size was obtained. Fourier transform IR spectra of synthesized materials showed characteristic peaks for NiO and ?-Fe2O3 nanostructures. To visualize the morphology and the chemical composition of the final products Scanning electron microscopy and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were performed. The thermogravimetric analysis was done for a better understanding of the general thermal behavior of precursor compounds. This easy-to-perform and fast preparation method opens a broad range of obtained materials? usage, particularly due to its economic viability

Highlights

There is a continuous scientific demand for cheap, simple, environmentally sound and economically sustainable routes to develop, design and produce advanced functionalD
Oxide nanomaterials based on iron and nickel have no competitors for their electrochemical, adsorption, sensing and/or catalytic performances, as their high specific surface areas lead to rich contact between the active materials and the electrolyte/pollutants [5-19]
The obtained powders were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), IR spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses

Summary

Introduction

There is a continuous scientific demand for cheap, simple, environmentally sound and economically sustainable routes to develop, design and produce advanced functional. Oxide nanomaterials based on iron and nickel have no competitors for their electrochemical, adsorption, sensing and/or catalytic performances, as their high specific surface areas lead to rich contact between the active materials and the electrolyte/pollutants [5-19] This type of materials can exhibit various size-, shape-, and morphology-dependent properties by a slight change in the preparation procedure [12, 20-24]. Many synthetic approaches were developed [31-39], emphasis should be pointed out to thermal decomposition of suitable precursors for the preparation of functional oxide nanomaterials with tailored properties at mass scale [40]. Large single crystals of isomorphous hexaaquametal(II) D-camphor-10-sulfonate might be potentially used as optical filters and optical materials [49] Despite their applications in optics, such compounds can be recognized as precursors for the synthesis of oxide nanomaterials by thermal decomposition, due to their high purity and easy, fast, and cheap production. Having all this in a mind, in this paper, an alternative approach for producing nanosized nickel oxide (NiO) and hematite (α-Fe2O3) powders at low cost by thermal decomposition of appropriate camphor sulfonate precursors is presented

Materials and Experimental Procedures

Results and Discussion

Conclusion