Preparation of porous zinc oxide-nickel oxide nanocomposites by facile one-pot solution process

Abstract

Porous zinc oxide (ZnO)-nickel oxide (NiO) nanocomposites were fabricated via a one-pot process using aqueous solutions of zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO), 10mM), hexamethylenetetramine (HMT, 10mM), and nickel acetate tetrahydrate (Ni(Ac), 7mM (7NZO), 10mM (10NZO)). The structural and morphological properties of these nanocomposites were investigated and compared to those of pure ZnO nanostructures. Rod-type nanostructures were observed in the pure ZnO sample, while porous sphere-like structures and continuous nanolayered structures were observed in the 7NZO and 10NZO samples, respectively. This difference in morphology might be due to the growth of the non-polar plane instead of the polar plane of ZnO in the clusters. The nanocomposites were composed of Ni, Zn, and O, which were homogeneously distributed. Distinct morphologies of the ZnO-NiO nanocomposites were obtained via a facile one-pot solution process.