Controlled synthesis of nickel phosphate hexahedronal and flower-like architectures via a simple template-free hydrothermal route

Abstract

A series of nickel phosphate (Ni₃(PO₄)₂·8H₂O) three-dimensional (3D) hexahedronal and flower-like architectures were synthesized via a simple template-free hydrothermal route. Morphology modification can be conveniently realized by varying the concentration of PO₄³⁻ ion as well as the reaction time and temperature. The as-prepared flower-like architectures consisted of numerous radially oriented 3D hexahedron-like petals, such as willow-leaf, parallelogram, rectangle, and rhombus-like, respectively, with a thickness of 0.7–2 μm, a width of 5–15 μm and a length of 10–30 μm. Meanwhile, a possible mechanism for the transformation of morphology from hexahedron to flower was preliminarily proposed.