Nickel oxide nanocrystallites embedded within the wall of ordered mesoporous carbon

An ordered mesoporous nickel oxide/carbon (NiO/C) nanocomposite with NiO nanocrystallites uniformly embedded within the carbon wall has been synthesized. The resultant structures have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In this nanocomposite, NiO nanocrystallites and carbon are combined to construct the backbone of the mesoporous structures. Since the NiO nanocrystallites are not incorporated in the mesochannels, the obtained nanocomposite has large surface area and high pore volume. When 12 wt.% NiO is loaded, the BET surface area and pore volume of the nanocomposite reach 1006 m2 g− 1 and 0.91 cm3 g− 1, respectively.