Growth of Highly Crystalline Nickel Particles by Diffusional Capture of Atoms

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method for synthesizing highly crystalline nickel nanoparticles through diffusional atom transport, enabling size control and improved catalytic properties, with potential applications in epitaxial deposition.

Contribution

The study presents a new growth technique for nickel nanoparticles that allows size and morphology control, advancing nanocrystal synthesis methods.

Findings

Achieved nickel nanoparticles up to 100 nm in size.

Controlled particle morphology during growth.

Nanocrystals suitable for noble metal shell deposition.

Abstract

We report a new approach to achieve growth of highly crystalline nickel nanoparticles over an extended range of sizes (up to 100 nm in diameter) and time scales (up to several hours) by diffusional transport of constituent atoms. The experimental procedure presented offers control of the morphology of the resulting particles and yields base metal nanocrystals suitable for epitaxial deposition of noble metal shells and the preparation of materials with improved catalytic properties. The reported precipitation system also provides a good model for testing a diffusion-driven growth mechanism developed specifically for the reduction process described.