Rapid synthesis of nickel oxide nanorods and its applications in catalysis

• NiO nanorods were synthesized by simple, one step and rapid microwave assisted method.
• 1,4-butanediol plays multiple roles as solvent, reactant, promoter and capping agent.
• Economic, template free and additive free synthesis.
• Nanosize NiO catalyst shows excellent catalytic activity in catalysis.

This work reports a rapid, efficient and economical synthesis of nickel oxide nanorods via microwave assisted method. The synthesis of nickel oxide nanorods has been achieved by using nickel (II) acetate as a precursor in 1,4-butanediol as a solvent under microwave irradiation within few minutes eliminating the need of conventionally used fuels and capping agents. It was observed that 1,4-butanediol plays multiple roles in the synthesis such as solvent, reactant, promoter and capping agent. The prepared nickel oxide nanorods were characterized using different techniques like XRD, FEG-SEM, EDS, TEM and FT-IR. Furthermore the application of synthesized NiO nanorods as a catalyst for the synthesis of substituted benzimidazole, benzoxazole and benzothiazole has been studied. Excellent yields of respective products under mild reaction conditions suggest a big potential for the synthesized NiO nanorods.

Nickel oxide (NiO) nanorods synthesized by a facile and rapid microwave assisted method using nickel (II) acetate as precursor with 1,4-butanediol as solvent. 1,4-Butanediol plays various roles in reaction such as solvent, reactant, promoter and capping agent. We have shown the application of synthesized NiO nanorods in the catalysis with excellent yield of respective product.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide