Kinetics of the hydrogen reduction process of nickel oxide nanopowder in non-isothermal conditions

Abstract

In this work the kinetics of the hydrogen reduction process of nickel oxide nanopowder in non-isothermal conditions were studied. NiO nanopowder was prepared in advance by thermal decomposition at 300°C of nickel hydroxide Ni(OH)2. Ni(OH)2 nanopowder was prepared by chemical deposition from aqueous solutions of nickel nitrate Ni(NO3)2 (10 wt. %) and alkali NaOH (10 wt. %) at room temperature, pH=9, under the condition of continuous stirring. The hydrogen reduction process of NiO nanopowder in non-isothermal conditions was carried out in the linear heating mode at a rate of 5°C/min in the temperature range 25–400°C. The study of the crystal structure and composition of the powder samples was performed by X-ray phase analysis. The specific surface area S of the powders was measured using BET method by low-temperature nitrogen adsorption. The average particle size D of powder samples was determined via the measured S value. The size and shape of the particles were investigated by scanning electron microscopic method. The calculation of kinetic parameters of the reduction process of nickel oxide in non-isothermal conditions was carried out by the differential-difference method using the data of thermogravimetric analysis and the equation for non-isothermal kinetics. It was revealed that the hydrogen reduction process of NiO nanopowder in non-isothermal conditions occurs in the temperature range 240–300°С with a maximum specific rate of 13,045•10-8 kg/s recorded at 280°С. The activation energy for the reduction process of NiO nanopowder was estimated at ~59 kJ/mol, which confirms the kinetic mode of limiting the process. It is shown that an increase in temperature to 280 °С can effectively increase the rate of the overall hydrogen reduction process of NiO nanopowder while guaranteeing the quality of the reduction product. The obtained Ni nanoparticles mainly have a rounded shape, their size ranges from 40–80 nm. Keywords: kinetics, nickel, nanopowder, hydrogen reduction, non-isothermal conditions, activation energy.