γ-ray Radiation Induced Synthesis and Characterization of α-Cobalt Hydroxide Nanoparticles
A novel synthetic route has been developed to prepare α-cobalt hydroxide with intercalated nitrate anions. It was success-fully synthesized by γ-ray irradiation under simple conditions, i.e., air atmosphere, without base. Under γ-ray irradiation, it leads to the formation of layered cobalt hydroxynitrate compounds which have small crystalline size and have the role of a generator of hydroxyl anion. Structural and morphological characterizations were performed by using power X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). The component and thermal stability of the sample were respectively measured by Fourier trans-form infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and thermal analyses, including thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA).