A facile route to oriented nickel hydroxide nanocolumns and porous nickel oxide

A facile route has been developed to synthesize nickel hydroxide nanocolumns at 60 degrees C. The characterized results show that the nanocolumns are formed by stacking of oriented Ni(OH)(2) nanosheets. The porous NiO nanocolumns and nanosheets are obtained by the Ni(OH)(2) nanocolumns annealed at 500 degrees C for 3 h. The NiO nanocolumn structure is unstable and has a tendency to exfoliate to the individual nanosheets. The factors on the formation of the nanocolumns were investigated and the catalytic property of the porous NiO nanostructures for CO oxidation is reported.