A facile synthesis of mesoporous NiO nanosheets and their application in CO oxidation

• Mesoporous NiO nanosheets were prepared by sol–gel process using AOT as surfactant.
• The BET surface area was found to be 88.23 m2 g−1.
• Thickness of nanosheet particles was 80–100 nm.
• CO oxidation of nanosheet particles occurred at 288 °C (T50) and 245 °C (T100).

Mesoporous NiO nanosheets were prepared by a facile sol–gel process using Aerosol-OT, Bis(2-ethyl hexyl) sulfosuccinate sodium salt (AOT) as anionic surfactant. The products were analyzed by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption, FESEM and TEM studies. The morphology and textural properties of the products were tuned by using different amounts of the surfactant. TEM images exhibited nanosheets particles of thickness 80–100 nm in which nanograins (10–20 nm) were assembled. A probable mechanism was illustrated for the formation of NiO nanosheets. Catalytic activity for CO oxidation was performed with the synthesized products. The nanosheet particles obtained in the presence of 1 mmol AOT with the surface area of 88.23 m2 g−1 exhibited the better CO oxidation, i.e., T50 (50% conversion) and T100 (100% conversion) were at 245 °C and 288 °C, respectively.

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