Nickel Nanoparticles by Mechanical Synthesis in the NiO–Mg System

Ni nanopowder was synthesized from NiO through mechanically induced magnesiothermic NiO–Mg reaction that can also be regarded as a kind of progressive synthesis, or Mechanically induced Self-sustaining Reaction (MSR). The obtained powder was characterized by XRD, FESEM, and TEM. After 8 min of milling, the mixture ignited in the mill vial to yield Ni and MgO. The latter was removed by leaching with 18% HCl. The mean crystallite size of resultant Ni was found to have a value of 45–50 nm.