METHOD FOR PRODUCING NICKEL PARTICLE, NICKEL PARTICLE OBTAINED BY THE PRODUCTION METHOD, AND ELECTROCONDUCTIVE PASTE USING THE NICKEL PARTICLE

The present invention is directed at providing fine nickel particles with a sharp particle size distribution, and providing an electroconductive paste using the nickel particles. In order to obtain the nickel particles capable of achieving the purpose, a method for producing the nickel particle by elevating a temperature of the reactive solution containing a nickel salt and a polyol to a reduction temperature, and reducing the nickel salt in the reactive solution which is characterized in that the reactive solution is prepared to contain a carboxylic acid or an amine having a carboxyl functional group and/or an amino functional group, and a precious metal catalyst before the solution temperature is elevated to the reduction temperature. Nickel particles obtained with the production method have an average image analytical particle diameter of 1 nm to 300 nm.