Synthesis of spherical NiO nanoparticles through a novel biosurfactant mediated emulsion technique

    Authors

    P. Palanisamy;A. M. Raichur

    Comments

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    Abstract

    Spherical nickel oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by microemulsion technique using rhamnolipids as the surfactant along with n-heptane and water, Nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)(2)) particles were first formed which were then calcined to obtain nickel oxide (NiO) particles. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) studies revealed that the synthesized nickel hydroxide particles were spherical in shape with stacked lamellar sheets. Nickel hydroxide was converted to nickel oxide by calcinations at 600 degrees C for 3 h and was confirmed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) showed that the nickel oxide particles were crystalline and of uniform size. The effect of pH on particle size was investigated and it was found that the particle size decreased from 86 +/- 8 nm at pH 11.6 to 47 +/- 5 nm at pH 12.5. A novel method using rhamnolipid biosurfactant for microemulsion synthesis has been demonstrated which offers an eco-friendly alternative to conventional microemulsion technique based oil organic surfactants. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Materials Science & Engineering C-Biomimetic and Supramolecular Systems

    Volume

    29

    Issue/Number

    1

    Publication Date

    1-1-2009

    Document Type

    Article

    First Page

    199

    Last Page

    204

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000262136700032

    ISSN

    0928-4931

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