One-step synthesis of hierarchical carnation-like NiS superstructures via a surfactant-free aqueous solution route

Novel NiS architectures were prepared by a facile aqueous solution route with the assistance of diacetyldioxime for the first time. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The NiS architectures are in carnation-like morphologies with diameters of 500-800 nm and composed of numerous well-aligned nanosheets of about 20 nm in thickness. It is found that the morphology of the final products is strongly dependent on the experimental parameters, such as the concentration of aqueous NaOH solution and the reaction temperature. Various controlled synthetic experiments indicate that the growth process of NiS architectures can be proposed as occurring by "dissolution" of the ellipsoid-like precursors. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.