Controlled synthesis of nickel phosphate hexahedronal and flower-like architectures via a simple template-free hydrothermal route

A series of nickel phosphate (Ni(3)(PO(4))(2)center dot 8H(2)O) three-dimensional (3D) hexahedronal and flower-like architectures were synthesized via a simple template-free hydrothermal route. Morphology modification can be conveniently realized by varying the concentration of PO(4)(3-) ion as well as the reaction time and temperature. The as-prepared flower-like architectures consisted of numerous radially oriented 3D hexahedron-like petals, such as willow-leaf, parallelogram, rectangle, and rhombus-like, respectively, with a thickness of 0.7-2 mu m, a width of 5-15 mu m and a length of 10-30 mu m. Meanwhile, a possible mechanism for the transformation of morphology from hexahedron to flower was preliminarily proposed.