A room temperature solution-phase process to synthesize pure phase single-crystalline hexagonal cobalt hydroxide nanoplates

A simple room temperature solution-phase method has been developed to synthesize pure phase single-crystalline hexagonal β-Co(OH)2 nanoplates. The chemical composition and morphology of the as-prepared β-Co(OH)2 nanoplates were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The results indicated that the as-prepared β-Co(OH)2 nanoplates were composed of pure brucite-like β-Co(OH)2 phase with single-crystalline feature. The effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG), NH4OH, and NaOH on the morphology and size of β-Co(OH)2 nanocrystals were discussed in detail. The growth mechanism of the as-synthesized nanoplates was also discussed in detail based on the experimental results.