“… 12,13 NiO thin films have been deposited by a variety of physical routes (such as magnetron sputtering, 14–16 pulsed laser deposition, 17 and electron beam deposition 18 ) and chemical routes (including sol–gel processing, 19 spray pyrolysis, 20 and atomic layer deposition 21 ). NiO shows promise in myriad applications, such as thin film transistors, 22–25 pn junctions, 26–29 electrochromic displays, 30 resistive switching memory, 31 optoelectronic, 32,33 and photovoltaic 17,33–35 devices. NiO based printed devices have been used in several applications, such as pesticide detection, 36 as thermistors, 37 and as hole-transport layers in solar cells.…”