Controlled synthesis and morphology-dependent electromagnetic properties of nickel nanostructures by γ-ray irradiation technique

We report the morphology-dependent magnetic and electromagnetic absorption properties of various nickel nanostructures prepared by a γ-ray irradiation technique. By changing the applied surfactants during the irradiation, sting-like, agglomerated, and chain-like nickel nanostructures are obtained when using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) as the surfactants. It is determined that the excellent electromagnetic absorption ability of sting-like nickel arises from point discharge effect, while chain-like nickel shows the best absorption property due to the geometrical effect. We think that the preparation of nickel nanostructures with various morphologies by this facile γ-ray irradiation technique can be a general route for other metals.