Carbon-Supported Nickel Nanoparticles from a Wood Sample of the Tree Sebertia acuminata Pierre ex. Baillon

Martin Lerch; Thorsten Ressler; Frank Krumeich; Jean-Pierre Cosson; Edouard Hnawia; Andreas Grohmann

doi:10.1071/CH09538

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Carbon-Supported Nickel Nanoparticles from a Wood Sample of the Tree Sebertia acuminata Pierre ex. Baillon

Martin Lerch ^A , Thorsten Ressler ^A , Frank Krumeich ^B , Jean-Pierre Cosson ^C , Edouard Hnawia ^D and Andreas Grohmann ^A ^E

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, D-10623 Berlin, Germany.

^B Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Straße 10, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland.

^C CNRS-ICSN (Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles), Avenue de la Terrasse, Bât. 27, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.

^D Laboratoire Insulaire du Vivant et de l’Environnement (LIVE), Université de la Nouvelle Calédonie, 145 Avenue James Cook, BP R4, F-98851 Nouméa Cedex, New Caledonia.

^E Corresponding author. Email: andreas.grohmann@chem.tu-berlin.de

Australian Journal of Chemistry 63(5) 830-835 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH09538
Submitted: 6 October 2009 Accepted: 9 February 2010 Published: 21 May 2010

Abstract

A wood sample of the nickel hyperaccumulator tree Sebertia acuminata Pierre ex. Baillon was pyrolyzed in an inert atmosphere to produce a charcoal-like material containing nanoparticulate nickel. Its overall nickel content was determined to be ~7 wt-% by wet chemical analysis (acid digestion, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy). Depending on the conditions of pyrolysis (5 h at 800°C; or 5 h at 800°C followed by 7 h at 900°C), the average crystallite sizes were ~7 and 42 nm, respectively, as determined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and electron microscopy (scanning, scanning transmission, and transmission). Furthermore, high resolution transmission electron microscopy images reveal that the Ni particles are, in some cases, encapsulated with graphitic carbon layers of varying thickness. Scanning electron microscopy results indicate for the most part, a preservation of the wood framework and a remarkably uniform distribution of the nickel nanoparticles in the vessels of the xylem. XRD and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis reveal the presence of NiO besides Ni.

Acknowledgements

This work is part of the Cluster of Excellence ‘Unifying Concepts in Catalysis’ coordinated by the Technische Universität Berlin. Financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) within the framework of the German Initiative for Excellence is gratefully acknowledged (EXC 314). The authors thank the EMEZ (Electron Microscopy ETH Zurich) and ZELMI (TU Berlin) for measuring time. The Hamburger Synchrotron Laboratory, HASYLAB, is acknowledged for providing beamtime. We also thank Brigitte Hahn and Thomas Hamfler (TU Berlin) for experimental help.

References

Carbon-Supported Nickel Nanoparticles from a Wood Sample of the Tree Sebertia acuminata Pierre ex. Baillon

Abstract

Acknowledgements

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