Facile one-pot synthesis of highly monodisperse nickel microspheres with raised nickel dots and their adsorption performance for heavy metal ions.

This report describes the facile solvothermal synthesis of highly monodispersed nickel microspheres with surfaces uniformly covered by nickel dots. Synthesis parameters including reaction times and reagent concentrations significantly influence the microspheric particle characteristics. The novelty of the synthetic method in this work is twofold: first, the controlled synthesis of Ni metallic microspheres using ethylene glycol as the precursor of a reductant and urea as the origin of OH(-) has never been reported.

Construction of Cu3Mo2O9 nanoplates with excellent lithium storage properties based on a pH-dependent dimensional change.

One-, two- and three-dimensional nanostructures of copper molybdenum oxide hydroxide were successfully constructed by a simple approach through a pH-dependent dimensional transformation of ammonium copper molybdate. Thin nanoplates of copper molybdate, which were obtained by sintering the two-dimensional nanobelts of copper molybdenum oxide hydroxide, exhibited remarkably high reversible lithium storage capacity, good rate capability and excellent cycling stability.