Production of beads like hollow nickel oxide nanoparticles using colloidal-gel electrospinning methodology

In the present study colloidal-gel electrospinning technique is proposed to produce new shape of nickel oxide hollow nanoparticles. In the colloidal-gel process, a colloidal precursor was prepared by dissolving nickel acetate tetra hydrate in ethanol at 352 K. The precursor was mixed with poly(vinyl acetate)/N, N-dimethylformamide (14 wt%). The polymer-precursor mixture was electrospun at relatively low voltage depending on the concentration of nickel acetate in the precursor. The obtained mat was dried under vacuum at 353 K for 24 h, and then sintered at 827 K for 3 h. The XRD and SEM results indicated that the proposed methodology produces pure nickel oxide hollow nanoparticles with beads-like form.