Formation of uniform flowerlike patterns of NiS by macrocycle polyamine assisted solution-phase route

A ligand family of macrocycle polyamines was first used to assist the construction of elegant inorganic microstructures. As an example, hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-4,11-diene (CT) was applied to the morphology control of NiS microstructures at a suitable temperature and ambient atmosphere. Highly uniform NiS flowerlike patterns with a size of 5.5-6.5 mu m, which are composed of nanorods with a width range from 160 to 350 nm and a length of up to 2 mu m, can be prepared on a large scale by the effect of the coordination of CT in a water system. The diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) mechanism has been applied for production of hierarchical flowers. The experimental results demonstrated that the microstructures of the flowers strongly depended on the reaction conditions, such as the concentrations of the reactants and CT. This reaction system could be extended to the morphogenesis of other inorganic nano- and sub-micromaterials with novel morphologies and complex forms.