Alcohol–thermal synthesis of flowerlike hollow cobalt tungstate nanostructures

The flowerlike hollow cobalt tungstate nanostructures, which consist of CoWO4 nanorods, have been synthesized by alcohol–thermal process at 180 °C without any surfactants and structure-directing agents. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technologies. Detailed structures of the as-prepared CoWO4 were investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) technology. Synthesis conditions such as solvent compositions and reaction temperatures determined the morphology of products. The formation mechanism of the morphology control over the hollow CoWO4 nanostructures was investigated as well.