Synthesis of 3-D flower-like á-Nickel hydroxide by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method

INOR 624

Linping Xu, linping_xu@hotmail.com1, Yunshuang Ding, dingysh2000@yahoo.com2, Chun-hu Chen, chunhu.chen@uconn.edu1, Wei-na Li, weina.li@uconn.edu2, and Steven L. Suib, steven.suib@uconn.edu1. (1) Chemistry Department, University of Connecticut, 55 N. Eagleville Rd., Storrs Mansfield, CT 06269, (2) Institite of Material Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs Mansfield, CT 06269
Nickel hydroxide has raised increasing attention especially due to its critical electrochemical function and plentiful potential applications in rechargeable Ni-base alkaline batteries, e.g. Ni/Cd, Ni/Zn, Ni/MH. Nickel hydroxide has a hexagonal layered structure with two polymorphs, namely α- and β-Ni(OH)2. α-Ni(OH)2 shows superior electrochemical properties compared to the β form. Nanosize flower-like α-nickel hydroxide materials with an interlayer spacing of 7.0Å have been prepared by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. The experimental results of XRD and FT-IR show that the Ni(OH)2 sample prepared by this method is typical α phase. TEM has also been used to verify the crystal structure. The SEM images of a typical sample show many uniform flower-like architectures with diameters of 700nm-1μm. α-nickel hydroxide can be transferred to NiO with cubic crystalline structure after being calcined at 400°C. Cyclic voltammetry is used to determine the electrochemical properties of Ni(OH)2 electrode in 1M KOH.
 

Nanoscience: Synthesis and Characterization
7:00 PM-10:00 PM, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster

Division of Inorganic Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007