Oxidation kinetics of nickel nano crystallites obtained by controlled thermolysis of diaquabis(ethylenediamine)nickel(II) nitrate

Article abstract of DOI:10.1007/s10973-009-0209-y

The metal complex, [Ni(en)₂(H₂O)₂](NO ₃)₂ (en = ethylenediamine), was decomposed in a static furnace at 200 °C by autogenous decomposition to obtain phase pure metallic nickel nanocrystallites. The nickel metal thus obtained was studied by XRD, IR spectra, SEM and CHN analysis. The nickel crystallites are in the nanometer range as indicated by XRD studies. The IR spectral studies and CHN analyses show that the surface is covered with a nitrogen containing species. Thermogravimetric mass gain shows that the product purity is high (93%). The formed nickel is stable and resistant to oxidation up to 350 °C probably due to the coverage of nitrogen containing species. Activation energy for the oxidation of the prepared nickel nanocrystallites was determined by non-isothermal methods and was found to depend on the conversion ratio. The oxidation kinetics of the nickel crystallites obeyed a Johnson-Mehl-Avrami mechanism probably due to the special morphology and crystallite strain present on the metal.

Full text of DOI:10.1007/s10973-009-0209-y

J Therm Anal Calorim (2010) 100:733–740
DOI 10.1007/s10973-009-0209-y
Oxidation kinetics of nickel nano crystallites obtained
by controlled thermolysis of diaquabis(ethylenediamine)
nickel(II) nitrate
Ponminiessary P. Robinson Æ Vasudevan Arun Æ
Sebastian Manju Æ Chennampilly Ummer Aniz Æ
Karukapadath K. M. Yusuff
Received: 3 April 2009 / Accepted: 5 June 2009 / Published online: 8 July 2009
´
´
Ó Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, Hungary 2009
Abstract The metal complex, [Ni(en)2(H2O)2](NO3)2
(en = ethylenediamine), was decomposed in a static fur-
nace at 200 °C by autogenous decomposition to obtain
phase pure metallic nickel nanocrystallites. The nickel
metal thus obtained was studied by XRD, IR spectra, SEM
and CHN analysis. The nickel crystallites are in the
nanometer range as indicated by XRD studies. The IR
spectral studies and CHN analyses show that the surface is
covered with a nitrogen containing species. Thermogravi-
metric mass gain shows that the product purity is high
(93%). The formed nickel is stable and resistant to oxida-
tion up to 350 °C probably due to the coverage of nitrogen
containing species. Activation energy for the oxidation of
the prepared nickel nanocrystallites was determined by
non-isothermal methods and was found to depend on the
conversion ratio. The oxidation kinetics of the nickel
crystallites obeyed a Johnson–Mehl–Avrami mechanism
probably due to the special morphology and crystallite
strain present on the metal.
Introduction
Nano nickel is very important in the current science as it
finds applications in catalysis, magnetic recording, semi-
conductors and biological labeling [1–4]. There are so
many methods to prepare nickel nanoparticles like sono-
chemical [5], reduction of nickel salts [6], carbonyl method
[7] and ligand assisted synthesis [8]. There is a continuing
interest in easy synthesis of metallic nano nickel. Recently,
Wang et al. [9] reported the synthesis of nano nickel by
thermal decomposition of nickel acetate along with a sur-
factant hexadecylamine. They obtained nano sized nickel
(7 nm) with a product purity of approximately 74.3%.
Nickel nano particles were also obtained by controlled
evaporation of nickel–oleyl amine complex solution [10].
Such preparation methods employ costly surfactants and the
product is usually contaminated with organic species.
Thermolysis of ethylenediamine (en) complexes usually
gives NiO [11]. Recently the ethylenediamine complexes of
nickel have been used in the preparation of supported nickel
catalysts [12, 13]. The preparation method involves
decomposition of catalyst precursors (the support and the
nickel complex) in an inert atmosphere and partially reduced
nickel species were obtained on the support surface.
Keywords Ethylenediamine ꢀ Thermolysis ꢀ
Nano nickel ꢀ Oxidation kinetics
Metals in nanometer scale have high surface area and are
more probable to oxidation at a faster rate than their bulk
counterparts. As the use of nano sized metals is gaining
importance, their corrosion and activity loss due to oxidation
is worth for studies. Oxidation kinetics of bulk nickel has
been studied by Atkinson and Taylor [14]. Oxidation kinetics
of nickel nanoparticles has gained renewed interest as it is
a potential candidate for chemical looping combustion
[15–17]. Different parameters like atmosphere, heating
procedure, particle size and presence of impurities influence
the oxidation behavior of nickel. The oxidation resistance of
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this
article (doi:10.1007/s10973-009-0209-y) contains supplementary
material, which is available to authorized users.
P. P. Robinson ꢀ V. Arun ꢀ S. Manju ꢀ K. K. M. Yusuff (&)
Department of Applied Chemistry, Cochin University of Science
& Technology, Kochi 682022, India
e-mail: yusuff@cusat.ac.in
C. U. Aniz
Research and Development Division, Sud Chemie India Ltd,
Kochi 683502, India
123

734
P. P. Robinson et al.
nickel is important, as resistant metal will be more stable at
room temperature. Size dependent kinetics for nano nickel
oxidation has been studied by Karmhag et al. [18]. We have
synthesized nanocrystalline nickel by simple thermal
decomposition of the complex, [Ni(en)2(H2O)2](NO3)2. The
decomposition product was characterized by XRD, IR, SEM
and elemental analysis. The oxidation kinetics of the formed
nickel nanocrystallites were studied bymodel free and model
fitting kinetics methods. The details of these studies are
presented in this paper.
The TG/DTG studies were conducted on a Pyris Dia-
mond TG of Perkin Elmer make. For the decomposition
experiments of the complex, an air flow of 50 mL min-1
was maintained. Different heating rates were employed to
study the thermolysis of the complex. During oxidation of
nickel crystallites the air flow was increased to
200 mL min-1. The heating rates employed were 5, 10, 15
and 20 °C min-1. All the TG/DTG experiments were done
at atmospheric pressure.
Results and discussion
Experimental
Characterisation of the complex
Preparation of the complex
The results of the elemental analysis and IR and UV–Vis
spectral studies of the metal complex are summarized in
the Table 1 (for the figures of IR and UV–Vis spectra see
electronic supplementary material).
The complex, [Ni(en)2(H2O)2](NO3)2 was prepared according
to the reported procedure [19] by adding stoichiometric
amount of ethylenediamine (2.05 g) to a solution of nickel
nitrate (4.96 g) in water (50 mL) with stirring. The solution
was kept in an ice bath for 4 h. The formed precipitate was
then washed with dry ethanol and dried over vacuum.
The analytical data and IR and UV–Vis spectroscopic
data are in agreement with that for the octahedral complex,
[Ni(en)2(H2O)2](NO3)2, reported in the literature [21–23].
The product formed on keeping this complex at iso-
thermal temperature (200 °C) in the static furnace for 2 h
was characterized by XRD, TG, IR and SEM.
Preparation of nickel nanocrystallites
The dried complex [Ni(en)2(H2O)2](NO3)2 (8 g) was kept
in a static furnace of dimensions 22 cm 9 20 cm 9
20 cm. The temperature of the furnace was increased at a
rate of 5 °C min-1 to 200 °C, and was kept at that tem-
perature for 2 h. The sample first melted to a black syr-
upy mass, which after half an hour decomposed suddenly
with evolution of gases in to a fluffy material. The
resultant product was stored in an inert (dry nitrogen)
atmosphere.
XRD analysis
XRD pattern of the product obtained is shown in Fig. 1A,
which could be well indexed as face centered cubic (fcc)
nickel [24].
There were no peaks due to NiO or the starting complex
indicating the formation of phase pure product. The peaks
were subjected to Lorentzian curve fit, and the fwhm (full
width at half maximum) (s) were determined after
deducting the instrumental broadening. The lattice constant
Instrumentation
˚
calculated from the 2h values was 3.5192 A. The crystallite
sizes were calculated from the (111), (200) and (220)
reflections by the well known Scherrer equation (for line
broadening),
The elemental (CHN) analyses were done on a Vario ele-
mentar III analyzer. Nickel in the complex was estimated
using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) on a
Thermo Electron Corporation SOLAAR M5Mk2 system.
Infrared spectrum of the complex and that of metallic
nickel were recorded on a Thermo Scientific–Nicolet 380
FTIR spectrometer after pelletizing in KBr. The UV–Vis
spectrum of the complex was recorded on a Labomed UV–
Vis spectrophotometer. X-ray diffraction patterns were
recorded on Bruker model D8 (CuKa source) and X-ray
line broadening analysis (XLBA) was done with the well
known Scherrer equation. The size-strain deconvolution
was done by Williamson–Hall plotting [20]. SEM was
recorded on a Jeol JSM-6390 LA scanning electron
microscope.
0:9k
dvol
¼
s cos h
where dvol is the volume average crystallite size and k is
the wavelength of X-ray and the values were 15.0, 16.1 and
9.8 nm respectively. The variation in crystallite size for
different crystallographic planes indicates that the crystallite
sizes and shapes are not homogeneous. The X-ray line
broadening can be due to size effect or/and strain effect. We
did the Williamson–Hall method to separate the strain
contribution from the total fwhm. Williamson–Hall method
to separate the broadening due to size and strain is based on
the equation.
123

Oxidation kinetics of nickel nano crystallites
735
Fig. 1 X-ray diffraction pattern of A—phase pure nickel obtained
from static furnace, B—intermediate separated after stage B of
decomposition in TG, C—final product of decomposition from TG.
* Peaks due to NiO, # peaks due to metallic nickel
fwhm ¼ ssize þ strain ¼ ssize þ sstrain
Kk
ssize þ strain
¼
þ g tan h; where g tan h ¼ sstrain
cos h ꢁ dvol
Kk
dvol
ssize þ strain ꢁ cos h ¼
þ g sin h
where K is the shape factor usually 0.9 and g is the
microstrain.
Thus a plot of ssize?strain * cosh against sinh gives a
straight line with slope g. From the y-intercept the crys-
tallite size corrected for microstrain can be calculated.
The W–H plot for our sample is shown in Fig. 2. The
calculated average crystallite size from the y-intercept of
the W–H plot was 18.1 nm. This value is greater than the
values calculated by usual Scherrer equation indicating
considerable microstrain in our sample. The positive slope
of the plot gave the microstrain (g = 0.0235) which was
significant. Points not lying along the straight line indicate
anisotropic strain. The XRD analysis of the sample thus
indicates formation of nanocrystalline phase pure nickel
with significant anisotropic microstrain.
TG, IR spectra and SEM
The mass gain (Fig. 3) observed in the TG curve due to
oxidation of the nickel was 20.1% against the theoretical
mass gain of 27.3% (if the product was 100% nickel).
The CHN analysis of the product yielded the results as C,
2.2; H, 1.2; and N, 5.5%. Combining both the above results,
purity of the nickel metal is &93% which is higher than the
reported values for similar preparation methods [9].
123

736
P. P. Robinson et al.
Fig. 4 IR spectra of the prepared nickel nanocrystallites
Fig. 2 Williamson–Hall plot for metallic nickel
Fig. 5 SEM of metallic nickel
The temperature of decomposition in our experiment
(200 °C) is less than the real decomposition temperature
of the complex (240 °C). The decomposition procedure
(heating rate and temperature) is important as lower
temperatures yield a black charred mass, while higher
temperatures result in partial formation of nickel oxide.
We tried to simulate the formation of nickel crystallites in
static furnace by carrying out TG runs as described
below.
Fig. 3 The mass gain curve during oxidation
The infra-red spectrum of the product is shown in Fig. 4.
The absence of Ni–O stretching vibrations in the region
420–470 cm-1 confirms the absence of nickel oxide for-
mation in the product which is in accordance with the XRD
results [25].
The peaks at 1,380 and 1,032 cm-1 may be due to the
ma(NO2) and ms(NO2) vibrations of unidentate N-bonded
nitro groups [22]. The absence of extra peaks from ligands
confirms that the decomposition was almost complete. The
scanning electron micrograph (Fig. 5) shows foam like
structure which has been formed by the aggregation of
nickel crystallites. The foam has been made up of thin film
like structures.
Thermolysis experiments
In one TG run, the nickel complex was heated from room
temperature to 200 °C at a rate of 5° min-1 and was main-
tained at 200 °C for 3 h with an air flow of 50 mL min-1
(Fig. 6A). Even after 3 h the product obtained from TG was a
black mass corresponding to a percentage mass loss of 47.7.
123

Oxidation kinetics of nickel nano crystallites
737
Fig. 6 A isothermal weight loss
of [Ni(en)2(H2O)2](NO3)2 at
200 °C, B DTG graph of
thermolysis of
[Ni(en)2(H2O)2](NO3)2 (TG
program; air
flow = 50 mL min-1
;
temperature 100 °C ? 240 °C
at a rate 5 °C min-1; isothermal
at 240 °C for 1 h;
240 °C ? 800 °C at a rate of
10 °C min-1
)
in TG furnace 200 ꢂC isothermal
Â
Ã
preparation of nickel nanocrystallites was done by
isothermal decomposition in a muffle furnace with the
dimensions 22 cm 9 20 cm 9 20 cm using a sample mass
of 8 g. Partial decomposition of ethylenediamine ligands
by nitrate ions/oxygen (present initially in small amount)
occurs as the first step of the isothermal decomposition.
The high sample/space in furnace and the partial
decomposition creates an atmosphere devoid of air
around the sample which prevents the formation of NiO.
We propose an autogenous temperature increase in static
furnace due to the partial oxidation of ethylenediamine
ligands. This temperature rise initiates a self-propagating
reaction by which all the ligands are decomposed to
gaseous products including hydrogen, which act as
reducing agents for the complete reduction of Ni2? to
Ni0ðmetalÞ. This might be the reason for the formation of
nickel metal.
NiðenÞ2ðH2OÞ2 ðNO3Þ2
ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ!
gaseous products þ partially decomposed product:
We did another TG run with a heating program (air
flow = 50 mL min-1; temperature 100 °C ? 240 °C at a
rate of 5 °C min-1; isothermal at 240 °C for 1 h;
240 °C ? 800 °C at a rate of 10 °C min-1). Our DTG
results (Fig. 6B) in air atmosphere shows four stages of
mass loss/gain. Stage A corresponds with mass loss of
water, stage B corresponds to explosive decomposition,
stage C corresponds to mass loss and reduction of Ni2? and
stage D corresponds to mass gain due to nickel oxidation.
We isolated the product after the stage B and its XRD is
shown in Fig. 1B. It showed characteristic reflections due
to Ni and NiO.
The CHN elemental analyses (C, 8.1; H, 4.6; and N,
1.5 mass%) indicated the formation of a carbon rich con-
taminant on the surface. The mass loss around 350 °C
(stage C) can be due to decomposition of carbon remains
along with evolution of hydrogen [19]. The mass increase
between 400 and 550 °C (stage D) is due to nickel oxi-
dation. The XRD pattern of the final product after stage D
suggests the formation of phase pure NiO (Fig. 1C) [26].
The elemental analysis (CHN \ 0.5 mass%) of final
product showed practically no contaminants.
in static furnace 200 ꢂ
C
Â
Ã
NiðenÞ ðH2OÞ ðNO3Þ þO2ðatmosÞ
ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ!
2
2
2
Ni0 þ H2ðgÞ þ other gaseous products
þ contaminants ð8:9%Þ:
This direct transformation of the metal complex at low
temperature to nanocrystallites of nickel is interesting as
the preparation route is simple.
Thus decomposition in stage A and B can be written as
inTGfurnace100ꢃ240 ꢂC
ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ!
Â
Ã
NiðenÞ2ðH2OÞ2 ðNO3Þ2
Ni0 þNiO
Oxidation of nickel nanocrystallites
þ carbon containing contaminants ð13:2%Þ
þ gaseous products:
The unusual morphology of the sample (thin film like three
dimensional structure) prompted us to study the kinetics of
oxidation of the material. The differential thermogravi-
metric (DTG) plots for the oxidation of metallic nickel
(product obtained from the static furnace) at various heat-
ing rates are shown in the Fig. 7. There was an initial mass
loss of around 0.3% near 300 °C, which is due to the
combustion of contaminants covering the surface. This
mass loss was deducted before the kinetics calculations
were made. The conversion ratios at given temperatures are
and in stage C and D as
Ni0 þ NiO þ Carbon containing contaminants þ O2ðTGgasÞ
in TG furnace 240ꢃ800 ꢂ
C NiO þ gaseous products:
ƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒƒ!
Thus we could not observe the formation of phase pure
nickel metal in the temperature range 200–240 °C in the
thermolysis experiments done in TG furnace. The
123

738
P. P. Robinson et al.
The plots of ln b versus 1/T at constant a will give straight
line and from the slope activation energies are determined.
The integral form of KAS equation is
ꢀ
ꢁ
b
T2
A
Ea
ln
¼ ln
ꢃ
Ea ꢁ gðaÞ RT
where A is the Arrhenius frequency factor and g(a) is the
mechanism function.
b
ꢂ ꢃ
A plot of ln
Ea
against 1/T gives a straight line with
T2
slope = ꢃ
:
R
Friedman differential method [30] is based on the
intercomparison of the rates of conversion, da/dT for a
given degree of conversion a, at different heating rates.
This method requires measurement of both temperatures
and conversion rates, at different heating rates.
ꢀ
ꢁ
Fig. 7 DTG plot of nickel oxidation at different heating rates
da
dT
Ea
ln b
¼ ln½AfðaÞꢄ ꢃ
RT
The activation energies were calculated by the above
three equations and are plotted against each conversion
degree (Fig. 8). Activation energy increases first with
conversion ratios, attains a maximum at &45% conversion
and decreases afterwards. Similar values for activation
energy were obtained for both KAS and FWO methods.
The differential Friedman method yielded slightly lower
values for activation energies. The activation energies
calculated by FWO method falls between 1.3 and 2.1 eV.
For nanocrystallites, as the reaction proceeds, reactants
may undergo changes in reactivity due to crystal defect
formation, intracrystalline strain and particle disintegration
[16]. The reactivity of nickel nanocrystallites may not
remain constant during the full course of the reaction. This
may be the reason for the varying activation energies
obtained at different conversions. However, the exact
determined from the TG data by assuming stoichiometric
oxidation reaction. We did not consider any oxide layer if
initially present on the surface and took sample mass as
that of pure nickel. Complete oxidation was assumed at the
attainment of maximum mass.
The mass increase due to oxidation of nickel started in
between 320 and 360 °C depending on the heating rates.
This temperature of initial oxidation is less compared to
bulk Ni oxidation values and is attributed to the nano scale
dimensions of the sample [27]. The temperature of peak
maximum in the DTG plot shifted to higher values when
the heating rate was increased.
Oxidation kinetics
Determination of activation energy by model-free
isoconversional methods and Kissinger method
The basic assumption of model-free isoconversional
methods is that the reaction rate at a constant conversion is
only a function of temperature, and that the reaction model
is not dependent on temperature or heating rate. Flynn–
Wall–Osawa (FWO) [28] and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose
(KAS) [29] equations are generally used to study the
kinetics of solid state reactions. This method allows the
estimation of activation energy without choosing a reaction
model and reaction order. The FWO equation in its dif-
ferential form is as below.
d ln b
1:052 ꢁ Ea
¼
;
dð1=TÞ
R
where b is the linear heating rate, Ea the activation energy
and R is the gas constant.
The method is based on measurement of temperatures
for each conversion degree a and different heating rates b.
Fig. 8 Variation of activation energy with conversion for model free
isoconversional equations
123

Oxidation kinetics of nickel nano crystallites
739
Fig. 10 Kinetic model fitting for nickel nano crystallites using
differential equations in Table 2
Fig. 9 Arrhenius plot using Kissinger equation
reason for a maximum in the curve could not be explained
at this stage.
Table 2 Differential equations of JMA kinetics with varying ‘‘m’’
values
Kissinger equation [31] which yields a single value of
activation energy was also used to determine the activation
energy.
Symbol
f (a)
m
ꢀ
ꢁ
3/2(1 - a)[-ln(1 - a)]1/3
2(1 - a)[-ln(1 - a)]1/2
3(1 - a)[-ln(1 - a)]2/3
4(1 - a)[-ln(1 - a)]3/4
1.5
2
b
Tm2 ax
AR
Ea
A 1.5
A 2
ln
¼ ln
ꢃ
;
Ea RTmax
A 3
3
where Tmax is the temperature of peak maximum from the
ꢁ
A 4
4
ꢀ
DTG graph.
A plot of ln
b
against 1/Tmax gives the Arrhenius
Tm2 ax
1ꢃ1=m
(Fig. 9), plot from the slope of which activation energy can
fðaÞ ¼ mð1 ꢃ aÞ½ꢃ lnð1 ꢃ aÞꢄ
where m is the Avrami exponent.
be determined.
The activation energy obtained was 136.8 kJ mol-1
(1.42 eV) which is within the range obtained by other
methods.
The equation with m = 4 gave best fit at conversion
\0.5 while m = 3 gave good fitting for conversions[0.5.
We suggest the film like morphology and the crystallite
strain present on the sample should be the reason for this
type of oxidation kinetics. Similar type of JMA kinetics
was observed by Courtade et al. for the growth of NiO from
Ni films [33]. As in our case, change in kinetics with lattice
strain was recently reported for decomposition of ultrafine
calcite by Ren et al. [34].
Master plot method to study kinetics
To study the reaction kinetics of nickel oxidation we used
the conventional master plot technique [32].
The f(a)/f(a)0.5 were plotted for various differential f(a)
functions against fractional conversion a. The experimental
curve was plotted using variable activation energies
obtained from FWO method and using the equation
Conclusions
ðda=dTÞaeEa=RT
0:5
a
fðaÞ
¼
:
1. Controlled thermolysis of [Ni(en)2(H2O)2](NO3)2 in a
static furnace at 200 °C resulted in formation of phase
pure nickel nanocrystallites of average crystallite size
18.1 nm. The crystallites are agglomerated as indi-
cated by SEM.
Ea=RT0:5
fð0:5Þ
ðda=dTÞ
e
The master plots of various differential functions and the
experimental curve are shown in Fig. 10. Table 2
illustrates the various differential equations plotted in the
master plot.
2. The thermolysis experiments indicated the autogenous
temperature rise in the static furnace aided the
formation of phase pure nickel. An increase in
temperature or presence of extra oxygen directs the
Unlike for the spherical nickel nano particles which
generally obeys Jander equation [16] we got best fit for
Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) equation of the form
123

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P. P. Robinson et al.
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nickel oxide in the TG experiments.
3. The nickel metal formed is of relatively high purity
with a nitrogen rich species covering the surface. Due
to this surface species nickel metal is resistant to
oxidation at ambient temperatures.
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Acknowledgements The authors thank Department of Science and
Technology, India for using the Sophisticated Analytical Instrument
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(STIC), Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, for
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