Electrochemical properties and controlled-synthesis of hierarchical β-Ni(OH)2 micro-flowers and hollow microspheres

β-Ni(OH)2 hierarchical micro-flowers, hierarchical hollow microspheres and nanosheets were synthesized via a facile, single-step and selected-control hydrothermal method. Both hierarchical micro-flowers and hierarchical hollow microspheres were built from two-dimensional nanosheets with thickness of 50–100 nm. The as-obtained products were characterized by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). It was observed that marked morphological changes in β-Ni(OH)2 depended on the initial concentrations of Ni2+ ions and glycine. A possible growth mechanism was proposed based on experimental results. In addition, the effect of morphology on the electrochemical properties was also investigated. Both hierarchical micro-flowers and hierarchical hollow microspheres exhibited enhanced specific capacity and high-rate discharge ability as compared with pure Ni(OH)2 nanosheets. Investigations confirmed that hierarchical structures had a pronounced influence upon the electrochemical performance of nickel hydroxide.