Nickel Oxide Reduction by Hydrogen: Kinetics and Structural Transformations

We studied the reduction kinetics of bulk NiO crystals by hydrogen and the corresponding structural transformations in the temperature range of 543–1593 K. A new experimental approach allows us to arrest and quench the reaction at different stages with millisecond time resolution. Two distinctive temperature intervals are found where the reaction kinetics and product microstructures are different. At relatively low temperatures, 543–773 K, the kinetic curves have a sigmoidal shape with long induction times (up to 2000 s) and result in incomplete conversion. Low-temperature reduction forms a complex polycrystalline Ni/NiO porous structure with characteristic pore size on the order of 100 nm. No induction period was observed for the high-temperature conditions (1173–1593 K), and full reduction of NiO to Ni is achieved within seconds. An extremely fine porous metal structure, with pore size under 10 nm, forms during high-temperature reduction by a novel crystal growth mechanism. This consists of the epitaxial-like transformation of micrometer-sized NiO single crystals into single-crystalline Ni without any crystallographic changes, including shape, size, or crystal orientation. The Avrami nucleation model accurately describes the reaction kinetics in both temperature regimes. However, the structural transformations during reduction in both nanolevel and atomic level are very complex, and the mechanism relies on both nucleation and the critical diffusion length for outward diffusion of water molecules.