Preparation and Thermal Stability of Ultrafine Nickel Powders Containing hcp-Ni Nanocrystallites Using Liquid-Phase Reduction Method

Ultrafine nickel powders containing hexagonal close-packed nickel (hcp-Ni) nanocrystallites were prepared using liquid-phase reduction with NiC₂O₄, NaOH, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and ethylene glycol (EG). The nickel powders were characterized by XRD and SEM. TG analysis was used to determine the thermal stability of ultrafine nickel powders. The results showed that nickel powders with 45.1 pct of hcp-Ni nanocrystallites were synthesized under the following conditions: a reflux time of 3 hours, an NiC₂O₄-to-EG molar ratio of 0.01, 5 g/L PVP, and 85 g/L NaOH. SEM results illustrated that spherical particles of size 500 nm were obtained. The results of thermal stability showed that the antioxidant property at high temperature was improved with the increase of hcp-Ni content. The oxidation rate of nickel powders with 43.3 pct hcp-Ni was less than 50 pct even if the temperature was up to 873 K (600 °C).