Flowerlike nickel oxide was synthesized by a simple liquid-phase process to obtain the hydroxide precursor and then calcined to form the nickel oxide. The precursor and the nickel oxide were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) , the scanning electron microscope(SEM) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller-specific surface area measurement. The results indicated α-Nickel hydroxide was transferred to NiO with a cubic crystalline structure after being calcined at 450 °C; the NiO still kept the morphology of the precursors and the specific surface area of the NiO was 125.2m2/g.