Synthesis and spectroscopic identification of nickel and cobalt layered hydroxides and hydroxynitrates.

The formation of different nickel and cobalt layered hydroxide phases by a variety of solution and solid-state synthesis methods has been investigated. Initially, preparative methods were refined to generate single-phase products from metal(II) nitrate hexahydrate starting materials which were then characterised by powder X-ray diffraction, vibrational spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. As well as the brucite type β-M(OH) and the hydrotalcite-like [M(OH)(HO)] alpha-phases (where M = Ni, Co), two different hydroxynitrate phases were isolated with the generic formula M(OH)(NO) with = 0.