A fast and facile synthesis of mesoporous nickel oxide

Mesoporous NiO is synthesized with a fast and facile method by using octylamine (OA) and NiCl2·6H2O as template and precursor, respectively. The resultant products are characterized with XRD, DRIFT, SEM, TEM, XPS and nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements. The synthesis approach is described by the S+X−I+ (OA+Cl−Ni2+) assembly pathway, where the process is mediated by the addition of HCl. The reaction takes place at room temperature and completes in an hour, where the addition of NaOH solution leads to rapid precipitation of Ni(OH)2 and formation of partially ordered mesopores. Nanocrystalline mesoporous NiO is obtained after removal of template and decomposition of Ni(OH)2 upon hot ethanol washing and calcination. The mesopores in NiO are built from the embedded nanocrystallites through template removal and calcination induced cracking. The NiO product achieves a high surface area of 350 m2/g after 300 °C/3 h calcination. The effects of synthetic conditions on the properties of NiO are addressed.

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► Synthesis reaction for mesoporous NiO is completed at room temperature and in 1 h.
► Reaction process is described by the S+X−I+ (OA+Cl−Ni2+) assembly pathway.
► High surface area of 350 m2/g is achieved after calcination of 300 °C/3 h.
► Average pore size of mesoporous NiO is 4–7 nm.