A facile synthesis of graphene-like cobalt–nickel double hydroxide nanocomposites at room temperature and their excellent catalytic and adsorption properties

Graphene-like cobalt–nickel double hydroxide nanocomposites have been successfully prepared by a mild hydrolysis process at the room temperature. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis. The results reveal that the as-prepared samples are composed of α-Co(OH)₂ and α-Ni(OH)₂, and contain numerous thin flakes with wrinkle structure, and the thickness of the flakes is ca. 1 nm. Magnetic measurements indicate that the as-prepared nanocomposites have a weak ferromagnetic behavior at the room temperature, which is due to a small content of metallic Co. The as-synthesized products emerge large specific surface area (260.1 m² g⁻¹) from the measurement of Brunauer–Emmett–Teller. Interestingly, compared to single components, the obtained nanocomposites have exhibited superiorly and enhanced catalytic activity to the hydrogenation of p-nitrophenol in the presence of excess sodium borohydride at room temperature. In addition, the adsorption property of the nanocomposites for methyl blue has also been examined.