Facile Synthesis of Polycrystalline NiO Nanorods Assisted by Microwave Heating

Polycrystalline NiO nanorods have been synthesized by thermal decomposition of rod-like nickel oxide precursor achieved by microwave-assisted method. The structure, morphology, and crystalline phase of the products are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffractometry, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, and UV-visible absorption spectrum. TEM reveals that NiO nanorods consist of numerous NiO nanoparticles. The average size of NiO nanoparticles as a function of the calcination temperature has been investigated. The optical absorption band gap of polycrystalline NiO nanorods is 3.7 eV.