Negatively charged micelles directed synthesis of snow-ball flower like superparamagnetic Ni nanoparticles and investigation of their properties

Snow-ball flower like Ni nanoparticles have been synthesized using negatively charged micelles. Negatively charged micelles incorporate the Ni+2 onto its head group by electrostatic attraction and again a surfactant layer is arranged on positively charged Ni and thus in a repetitive way layer-by-layer a snow-ball flower like structure is formed. After reduction of Ni+2 to Ni atom by sodium borohydride and hydrated hydrazine the Ni clusters (∼3 nm) are formed and confined in micelles in snow-ball flower like pattern. The sizes of these nanoflowers are of ∼30 nm order. The particles are superparamagnetic in nature with blocking temperature about 117 K.