In this study, we fabricated the NiO nanostructures using a straightforward solvothermal technique. The NiO nanoparticles were characterized using various analytical techniques. The FESEM images clearly show the flower-like structure of NiO nanoparticles. These nanostructures were then employed as a sensor to detect the presence of highly toxic ammonia (NH3) gas. The flower-shaped nanostructures of NiO played a vital role in improving sensing performance. Moreover, the NiO sensor displayed rapid response to 100 ppm ammonia at room temperature, with responses/recovery times of 40 s/44 s. This research holds promise as a viable approach for effectively sensing and detecting NH3 gas. The NiO exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and degradation rates of 80% and 84.75% for Methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue dye (MB) respectively under UV-visible light irradiation. The NiO nanoflower remains unaffected after recycling MB dye degradation. This effective photocatalytic performance might be due to the formation of flower-like morphology. This underscores the potential of NiO as a promising candidate for applications in environmental and healthcare safety applications.
Read full abstract