Preparation of nickel nanoparticles in emulsion

The nickel nanoparticles with different sizes and spherical shape were prepared by the reduction of nickel sulfate with sodium borohydride in the water-in-oil emulsions of water/SDBS(sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate)/n-pentanol/n-heptane. The effects of aging time, molar ratio of water to SDBS(R) and the concentration of nickel sulfate on the size of particles were studied. The samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and inductively coupled plasma spectrometry(ICP). The results show that the average particle size changes from 20 to 40 nm by adjusting aging time (15–30 min) and R (9–11.5). The concentration of nickel sulfate of 1.0 mol/L is the favorite condition.