Synthesis, characterization, electrochemical and catalytic performance of NiO nanostructures and Ag-NiO nanocomposite

Nanocomposites comprising oxide and metal nanoparticles could significantly boost respective functionalities attributing to their synergistic properties. Present work reports synthesis of NiO and its composite; Ag-NiO nanocomposite. The study highlights electrochemical and catalytic performances of synthesized materials. The X-ray diffraction pattern, X-ray photoelectron spectra, magnetic and morphological study is presented with detailed analysis. Transmission electron microscopy images showed Ag nanoparticles distributed within NiO nanostructures. The cyclic voltammetry results showed specific capacitance of 231 F/g for Ag-NiO nanocomposite; higher than bare NiO (90 F/g) at 5 mV/s scan rate in 1 M KOH electrolyte. Moreover, the Ag-NiO nanocomposite exhibited significant catalytic activity towards methylene blue reduction with rate constant 1.1 × 10−2 s−1. The study covers basic analysis of NiO and Ag-NiO nanocomposite extending towards their functional performance