Using silicon dioxide nanosphere gaps to confine growth of single-crystal nickel sulfide nanowires in polyacrylamide gel

Single-crystal nickel sulfide nanowires (15 mu m in length and 14 nm in width) were successfully synthesized for the first time in the gaps between silicon dioxide nanospheres which filled polyacrylamide gel, by a simple gamma-irradiation method at room temperature and under ambient pressure. Room temperature photoluminescence shows that the samples consist of a broad emission with a maximum at 418 nm. (c) 2006 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.