Controllable synthesis of monodisperse polyhedral nickel nanocrystals

Monodisperse polyhedral nickel nanoparticles composed of small nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized by a facile poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) mediated solution reduction process with hydrazine hydrate as the reducing agent. The phase structure, morphology and magnetic properties of the as-prepared products were extensively characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). XRD pattern indicated that the as-synthesized products were nickel with well-crystallized face-centered cubic structure. SEM and TEM observations showed that the polyhedral nanoparticles consist of nanocrystals with size around 2 nm. The formation of these polyhedral nanoparticles is attributed to the oriented aggregation of nickel nanocrystals around a polymer-Ni(2+) complex framework structure. The magnetic property investigation shows that the polyhedral nickel nanoparticles exhibit a ferromagnetic behavior and possess a higher coercive field value than that of the bulk nickel.