Synthesis of CoNi nanowires by heterogeneous nucleation in polyol

CoNi nanorwires/nanorods, depending on the loading of Ni, were prepared by heterogeneous nucleation in polyol. CoNi nanowires with the length up to 1000 nm and the diameter of about 10 nm were obtained when the loading of Ni was no more than 30%, whereas nanorods with the length of about 500 nm and the diameter of 20 nm were produced with further increasing the loading of Ni. It was revealed that the nanowires might be a core-shell structure where the core was formed by the fast reduction of Co2+ and the shell was constructed by the combined reduction of Co2+ and Ni2+. When used for hydrogenolysis of glycerol, the CoNi nanowires showed significantly enhanced glycerol conversion and propanediol selectivity as compared to the pure Co nanowires.