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

Single-crystal nickel sulfide nanowires (15 μm 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.