A simple route to the synthesis of high-quality NiO nanoparticles

Dispersed nickel oxide nanoparticles were obtained by a simple and low-cost method using a mixture of gelatin as organic precursor and NiCl2 · 6H2O as Ni source. The average particle size was estimated from X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) peaks using the Rietveld refinement. The values ranged from 3.2 to 79 nm. We observed that the particle size changes as a function of synthesis time, with a notable decrease after the addition of NaOH to the solution. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) measurements show that particles have well defined shapes and are dispersed in an organic matrix. X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) shows also the formation of fcc NiO nanoparticles structures.