title: Controlled fabrication of flower-like nickel oxide hierarchical structures and their application in water treatment.
abstract: Flower-like NiO hierarchical structures with 2-5 μm diameter assembled from nanosheet building blocks have been successfully fabricated via a wet-chemical method combined with thermodecomposition technology. The template-free method is facile and effective in preparing flower-like NiO superstructures in high yield. The intermediate product and final hierarchical structures are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform IR (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The effects of growth temperature and reaction time on the morphologies of the as-prepared structures were investigated by SEM characterization and a possible mechanism for the formation of flower-like NiO is proposed. Based on the nitrogen adsorption and desorption measurements, the BET surface area of the as-obtained sample is 55.7 m²/g and the pore-size distribution plot indicates a bimodal mesopore distribution, with pore sizes of ca. 2.6 nm and 7.4 nm, respectively. In comparison with sphere-like and rod-like structures, the flower-like NiO hierarchical structures show an excellent ability to rapidly remove various pollutants when used as adsorbent and photocatalyst in waste-water treatment, which may be attributed to its unique hierarchical and porous surface structures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing 312000, China. fingal.tao@gmail.com
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Yongmiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Linxia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002384:Catalysis; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D009532:Nickel; C028007:nickel monoxide