Observation of magnetic, structural and surface morphological studies of triangle-like nickel nanoplates

Two-dimensional triangle-like nickel nanoplates have been synthesized by solvothermal method in the presence of triethylamine as a structure directing agent. The structure, morphology and magnetic properties of the as-synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Atomic force microscopy and Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. The as-synthesized products have been confirmed to be phase-pure crystalline nickel with face centered cubic structure on the basis of X-ray diffraction characterization. Atomic force microscopy image demonstrated that the as-prepared nickel product possess two-dimensional triangle-like structure with edge length of about 65–85 nm. Magnetic measurements showed that the coercive forces at 4.2 K and 300 K for nickel nanoplates are 363.3 and 182 Oe, respectively. The nickel nanoplates exhibit a distinct enhanced coercive force due to the presence of shape anisotropy when compared with that of bulk. A possible mechanism for the formation of triangle-like Ni nanoplate structure is proposed.