Preparation of porous zinc oxide-nickel oxide nanocomposites by facile one-pot solution process

Porous zinc oxide (ZnO)-nickel oxide (NiO) nanocomposites were fabricated via a one-pot process using aqueous solutions of zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO), 10 mM), hexamethylenetetramine (HMT, 10 mM), and nickel acetate tetrahydrate (Ni(Ac), 7 mM (7NZO), 10 mM (10NZO)). The structural and morphological properties of these nanocomposites were investigated and compared to those of pure ZnO nanostructures. Rod-type nanostructures were observed in the pure ZnO sample, while porous sphere-like structures and continuous nanolayered structures were observed in the 7NZO and 10NZO samples, respectively. This difference in morphology might be due to the growth of the non-polar plane instead of the polar plane of ZnO in the clusters. The nanocomposites were composed of Ni, Zn, and O, which were homogeneously distributed. Distinct morphologies of the ZnO-NiO nanocomposites were obtained via a facile one-pot solution process.