Nickel(II) oxide

Chemical properties

Nickel(II) oxide is Brownish black or black powder.

The Uses of Nickel(II) oxide

Nickel(II) oxide is used in the preparation of nickel alloys including nickel steel alloys, manufacture of glass and porcelain paints. Further nickel oxide is the main component in nickel-iron battery (Edison battery), nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery, and also used in ceramic industry for making frits and porcelain glazes. It also acts as a hydrogenation catalyst. NiO/CNTs (nickel oxide/carbon nanotubes) could be a potential cathode catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). It is blended with other high purity oxides and used in a variety of semiconductor applications such as thermistors and varistors.

The Uses of Nickel(II) oxide

Nickel salts, porcelain painting, fuel cell electrodes.

The Uses of Nickel(II) oxide

Nickel oxide nanowires have been studied for use in magnetic memory devices; as well as in luminescent materials.

Preparation

Nickel oxide is prepared by heating pure nickel powder with oxygen at a temperature above 400°C. In some commercial processes, green nickel oxide is made by heating a mixture of nickel powder and water in air at 1,000°C. Adding some nickel oxide to the above mixture enhances the rate of reaction. An alternative method of preparation of the green oxide involves thermal decomposition of an oxo acid salt of nickel at elevated temperatures. Thus, nickel nitrate, nickel sulfate or, more conveniently, nickel carbonate when heated at 1,000°C, yields the green oxide. The black oxide, on the other hand, is produced at a lower temperature from incomplete calcination of the carbonate or nitrate salt at 600°C. The oxygen content of the black form is slight-ly greater than its green counterpart.

Reactions

Nickel(II) oxide is insoluble in water but soluble in acids as long as it has not been ignited at a high temperature (under these latter conditions it is converted into grey-black octahedra having a metallic lustre). It reacts reversibly with hydrogen, the reaction NiO+H2 ? Ni+H20 proceeding from left to right at relatively low temperatures in a stream of hydrogen.

General Description

Nickel(II) oxide (NiO) is a metal oxide based nanomaterial with a good semiconducting property. Nanosized nickel oxide can be found in a variety of morphologies which include nanoflowers, spheres, wires, and tubes. It exhibits high performance in applications which require charge transfer and charge transport based processes. It can be prepared by a variety of physical and thermal methods such as sol-gel, hydrothermal and solvothermal techniques.

Hazard

Confirmed carcinogen.

Flammability and Explosibility

Non flammable

Safety Profile

Confirmed carcinogen with experimental carcinogenic and tumorigenic data. Poison by intratracheal, intravenous, and subcutaneous routes. Mutation data reported. Can react violently with fluorine, hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen sulfide, iodine, barium oxide + air. See also NICKEL COMPOUNDS.