Synthesis of Zn/Co/Fe-layered double hydroxide nanowires with controllable morphology in a water-in-oil microemulsion

The Zn/Co/Fe-layered double hydroxide nanowires were synthesized via a reverse microemulsion method by using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) /n-hexane/n-hexanol/water as Soft-Template. ZnSO4, CoSO4, Fe2(SO4)3 and urea were used as raw materials. The influence of reaction temperature, time, urea concentration and Cn (molar ratio of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide to water) on the structure and morphology of Zn/Co/Fe-layered double hydroxides was investigated. The samples were characterized using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Infrared Absorption Spectrum (IR). The results indicate that higher temperature is beneficial to the formation of layered double hydroxides, but particles apart from nanowires could be produced if temperature is up to 120 °C. By varying the temperature, reaction time, urea concentration and Cn, we got the optimum conditions of synthesizing uniform Zn/Co/Fe-layered double hydroxide nanowires: 100 °C, more than 12 h, Cn: 30–33, urea concentration: 0.3 M.