Size-controlled Ni nanoparticles formation by solution glow discharge

Abstract

We report the size control of Ni nanoparticles generated via solution glow discharge and focus on the effect of electrolyte concentration on Ni nanoparticles. In our experiments, voltage was applied to generate a plasma in NaOH electrolytes with concentrations ranging from 1.0 to 0.001 kmolm -3. The applied voltage strongly depended on the electrolyte concentration, and interestingly, product size decreased with electrolyte concentration; for example, (mean diameter, applied voltage, electrolyte concentration) = (148nm, 90V, 0.5kmolm-3), and (70nm, 590V, 0.001 kmolm-3). These results suggested the possibility of using plasma electrolysis for synthesizing size-controlled nanoparticles by changing only electrolyte concentration. © 2010 The Physical Society of Japan.