Nickel particles in soda-lime-silicate glass: Preparation and magnetic properties

Nickel particles were obtained by reduction of nickel (II) doped in soda-lime-silicate glass with hydrogen. The kinetics of the reduction process were followed by UV–vis optical absorption and magnetization measurements. The activation energies deduced from these measurements indicate that the kinetics of the reduction were controlled by the diffusion of hydrogen into the glass. Magnetization measurements performed at different temperatures showed that the mean particle size increases with treatment time and temperature. Furthermore, for a given time and temperature the particle size increases with increasing distance from the surface of the sample.