A room temperature solution-phase method to synthesize β-Ni(OH)2 nanoneedles

A simple room temperature solution-phase method has been employed to synthesize β-Ni(OH)2 nanoneedles in the presence of a suitable cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide for the first time. The chemical composition and morphology of the as-prepared β-Ni(OH)2 nanoneedles were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The effect of surfactant and NH4OH on the morphology and size of β-Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles was discussed in detail. The growth mechanism of the as-synthesized nanoneedles was discussed based on the experimental results. The results indicate that the binding between CTAB and β-Ni(OH)2 crystal nuclei inhibits crystal growth randomly and favors needle-like single crystal growth with their preferred facets.