Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study of nanostructured nickel oxide

Nanostructured nickel oxide having different average particle sizes ranging from 3 to 16 nm were synthesized and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of the samples were recorded in the far infrared (IR) region. The spectra were found to be dominated by surface mode absorptions with no distinct absorption corresponding to the bulk transverse optical mode. IR absorption coefficient, alpha, for the nanostructured NiO samples were calculated as a function of frequency using a macroscopic approach devised by Fuchs. The effects of crystalline geometry, numerical values of optical constants, filling factor and increased damping on the spectral features of the samples were analyzed. Though the simulations approximately reproduced the occurrence of a shoulder in the experimental spectra, the most intense peak in the simulated spectra was found to be about 50 cm(-1) above the corresponding experimentally observed peak. It was shown that the experimentally observed absorption maximum of all the samples were in close agreement with that determined using a microscopic theory based on the rigid ion model. The weak absorption peaks in the frequency region 60-100 cm(-1) appearing in the spectra of all the samples were identified as surface induced transverse acoustical modes, omegaTA, which became IR active due to the breakdown of translational symmetry in the nanocrystallites.