Abstract
Bimetallic mixed metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles of iron and nickel are prepared via the co-precipitation method and are characterized by various techniques. Optimization of these nanoparticles involves finding the optimal synthetic conditions and parameters to achieve the hybrid material’s desired size, stability, and composition. The effects of the ratio of precursor salts, time of addition of reactant, pH, and the temperature for the synthesis of these mixed oxide nanoparticles are investigated. Concentration studies revealed successful synthesis of the hybrids with the controlled smallest size, at equal concentrations of precursor salts. pH and time of addition of reactant studies revealed the synthesis of least-sized hybrids at pH 13 and at a slow mode of addition of reactant. The optimal temperature at which hybrid nanoparticles are found at the smallest controlled size is 40 °C, whereas increasing temperature causes an increase in the size of nanoparticles. The hydrodynamic size and zeta potential studies are also evaluated through statistical models including probability distribution function and grow-decay model, revealing optimized points in terms of probability and the growth or decay of slopes. These studies can potentially demonstrate the optimized potential of these nanoparticles for a variety of applications including energy storage, catalysis, sensing, etc.
HIGHLIGHTS
Optimization of bimetallic iron and nickel hybrid oxides (Fe2O3:NiO) is achieved by variations in the synthetic parameters.
Better control for size is observed at 50:50 concentration ratio of salts, higher pH and slow addition of reagents.
40 °C and 60 °C are optimal temperatures for better control in the size and stability of nanoparticles, respectively.
Co-precipitated and manually mixed oxide nanoparticles show different behavior.
Statistical models are applied to better understand and evaluate the size and zeta potential results.
PRIME NOVELTY STATEMENT
The optimization of bimetallic iron and nickel hybrid oxides is achieved by variations in the synthetic parameters, for which better control in size is observed at 50:50 concentration ratio of salts; slow addition of reagent, higher pH, and 40 °C and 60 °C are optimal temperatures for better control in size and stability of nanoparticles respectively. The statistical models are applied to better understand the results.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Data availability statement
Data sharing does not apply to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.