Facile one-pot preparation of ultra-thin barbed nickel foil

Abstract We proposed a facile strategy to prepare ultra-thin barbed nickel foil (~1 μm) with hydrophobic surface. The obtained foil is prickly on one side and flat on the other side. The two-dimensional foil possesses large surface area which can be used as carrier to support functional materials or further prepared into nickel-based composites (e.g. Ni-Nickel hydroxide). The intrinsic magnetism of nickel makes the foil easily separated from a multiphase system. In addition, the prepared nickel foil exhibits good mechanical strength and flexibility. Such a unique nickel foil has great potential in terms of catalysis, energy storage and electromagnetic shielding.