An approach to emerging optical and optoelectronic applications based on NiO micro- and nanostructures

Abstract

Nickel oxide (NiO) is one of the very few p-type semiconducting oxides, the study of which is gaining increasing attention in recent years due to its potential applicability in many emerging fields of technological research. Actually, a growing number of scientific works focus on NiO-based electrochromic devices, high-frequency spintronics, fuel cell electrodes, supercapacitors, photocatalyst, chemical/gas sensors, or magnetic devices, among others. However, less has been done so far in the development of NiO-based optical devices, a field in which this versatile transition metal oxide still lags in performance despite its potential applicability. This review could contribute with novelty and new forefront insights on NiO micro and nanostructures with promising applicability in optical and optoelectronic devices. As some examples, NiO lighting devices, optical microresonators, waveguides, optical limiters, and neuromorphic applications are reviewed and analyzed in this work. These emerging functionalities, together with some other recent developments based on NiO micro and nanostructures, can open a new field of research based on this p-type material which still remains scarcely explored from an optical perspective, and would pave the way to future research and scientific advances.

Facile synthesis of mesoporous nano Ni/NiO and its synergistic role as super adsorbent and photocatalyst under sunlight irradiation

“…Transition metal oxides are interesting materials with unique optical, magnetic, and electrical properties that make them a promising candidate for unlimited applications. One of these oxides is NiO, which was applied to many applications such as memory devices, gas sensors (Tong et al 2021 ), batteries (Jia et al 2021 ), light-emitting diodes and lighting devices (Taeño et al 2021b ; Zhang et al 2021 ), waveguides, and optical resonators (Taeño et al 2021a ). Due to its facile synthesis and stability, NiO was also examined as an adsorbent for a number of organic and inorganic pollutants such as dyes (Al-aoh 2018 ; Ramesh 2018 ), phenol (Dehmani and Abouarnadasse 2020 ), and heavy metals (Ziaeifar et al 2015 ; Adhikari et al 2017 ; Rajabi Kuyakhi and Tahmasebi Boldaji 2021 ).…”

“…Due to its facile synthesis and stability, NiO was also examined as an adsorbent for a number of organic and inorganic pollutants such as dyes (Al-aoh 2018 ; Ramesh 2018 ), phenol (Dehmani and Abouarnadasse 2020 ), and heavy metals (Ziaeifar et al 2015 ; Adhikari et al 2017 ; Rajabi Kuyakhi and Tahmasebi Boldaji 2021 ). NiO is a p-type semiconductor whose band gap ranges from 3.6 to 4.3 eV and is characterized by chemical stability, low toxicity, and high ionization energy (Bonomo 2018 ; Taeño et al 2021b ). In the last decade, few researchers have utilized NiO as a photocatalyst for some environmental contaminants such as dyes (Jayakumar et al 2017 ; Sabouri et al 2018 ; Khairnar and Shrivastava 2019 ), antibiotics (Torki and Faghihian 2017 ), and free cyanide (Bashir et al 2019 ).…”

Systematic Investigation of Structural, Morphological, Thermal, Optoelectronic, and Magnetic Properties of High-Purity Hematite/Magnetite Nanoparticles for Optoelectronics

“…The exceptional opto-electrical characteristics of metal oxide nanostructures relative to their bulk counterparts have gained substantial attention in various applications of energy conversion/storage devices such as solar cells, supercapacitors, LEDs, Li-ion batteries, electrochemical sensors as well as hydrogen production [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Among others, iron-oxide-based nanostructures have proven to be potential candidates owing to their outstanding thermal stability, high surface area, chemical stability, non-toxicity, and superior opto-magneto-electrical properties [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ].…”

Primary and Secondary Genotoxicity of Nanoparticles: Establishing a Co-Culture Protocol for Assessing Micronucleus Using Flow Cytometry

“…However, their extensive production and usage lead to a demand for toxicity evaluation as well as assessment of health risks at occupational and environmental settings ( Kessler, 2011 ; Batley et al, 2013 ). Among the various NPs, nickel oxide (NiO) is vastly employed in industrial applications such as metal printing, electronics, ceramics, catalysis, and sensing ( Zhou et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2018 ; Dumala et al, 2019 ; Jaji et al, 2020 ; Taeño et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ). Moreover, exposure is common at nickel refineries, metal alloy production sites and at occupational setting where welding is performed ( Klein and Costa, 2015 ; Pesch et al, 2019 ).…”