Annealing effects on NiO nanoparticles for magnetic behaviour and antibacterial activity studies

The aim of the work is to synthesize nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles and study their applications through the co-precipitation method. The Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) measured the thermal stability of the synthesized nanoparticles. The X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns of NiO have a face-centre cubic structure and an average crystallite size range of 16 nm – 36 nm. Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectra confirmed the formation of Ni-O bonding. The surface morphology has been analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The mean particle size was about 50.76 nm, measured from the High Resolution-Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) images. The presence of elements in the samples was identified using Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis. The Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) analysis determined the changes in magnetic behaviour due to the annealing temperature increase in the NiO nanoparticles. The performance of antibacterial activities using NiO nanoparticles on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacterial strains found that the zone of inhibition expanded as concentration increased.