A 60-second microwave-assisted synthesis of nickel foam and its application to the impregnation of porous scaffolds

Enrique Ruiz-Trejo, Abul Kalam Azad, John Thomas Sirr Irvine

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A rapid and facile method to prepare nickel foam from nickel nitrate and glycine using a conventional microwave oven is presented. The foam, characterized by SEM, XRD-Rietveld, TG, magnetization measurements and BET contains mostly nickel metal (80 w%) and nickel oxide (20 w%); it exhibits pores in the sub micrometric and nanometric scale and consists of particles with an average diameter of 45-47 nm and BET surface of 15.9 gm-2. This microwave-assisted combustion synthesis is used to infiltrate porous ceramic scaffolds with nickel metal as a potential method to accelerate the fabrication of electrodes in solid oxide fuel cells and electrolysers. After repeated impregnation, the scaffolds of Ce0.9Gd0.1O2, saffil (high temperature insulating brick), La0.2Sr0.7TiO3 and BaCe0.5Zr0.3Y0.16Zn0.04O3-δ were black, exhibited electrical continuity and were easily lifted with a magnet. A comparative SEM study of the microstructure of the porous scaffolds with and without nickel is presented.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of The Electrochemical Society
Volume162
Issue number3
Early online date30 Dec 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

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