Hydrothermal synthesis of Ni₁₂P₅ hollow microspheres, characterization and photocatalytic degradation property

In this paper, we report the successful synthesis of Ni₁₂P₅ hollow spheres via a facile hydrothermal route, employing white phosphorus (WP) and nickel nitrate as the reactants in the presence of hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) and polyethylene glycol 10000 (PEG-10000). The phase and morphology of the product were characterized by means of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). HMT and surfactant (PEG-10000) played important roles in the formation of Ni₁₂P₅ hollow microspheres. Furthermore, research also showed that the as-prepared Ni₁₂P₅ hollow spheres could photocatalytically degrade some organic dyes such as Safranine T and Pyronine B under irradiation of 365 nm UV light.