Studies on cobalt doped NiO nanoparticles prepared by simple chemical method

Nanocrystalline nickel oxide (NiO) and cobalt doped NiO have been prepared successfully by a simple chemical method. NiO and cobalt doped NiO nanoparticles have been characterised using various analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction, FESEM, HRTEM, UV absorption and M-H curves. The average grain size of NiO nanoparticles and cobalt doped NiO nanoparticles are 12 and 9.5 nm respectively. The UV absorbance study shows a strong absorption peak present between 328 and 363 nm. The band gap values of NiO nanoparticles and cobalt doped NiO nanoparticles are 3.58 and 3.78 eV. The incorporation of cobalt into NiO nanoparticles have strongly influenced the magnetic behaviour and the material got converted from super paramagnetic to ferromagnetic material.