Nickel oxide nanocrystallites within the wall of ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-3: Synthesis and characterization

A series of ordered mesoporous nickel oxide/carbon (NiO/C) nanocomposites (NiOxC-t, x = 3, 6 and 15, t = 600, 800, 900 and 1000) were synthesized by a combination of “nanocasting” and thermolysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the nanocomposites. The results showed that the NiO nanocrystallites were encapsulated in the wall of the CMK-3 structure and did not block the mesochannel, which retained the ordered mesostructure and large surface area of CMK-3. The textural characteristics of the nanocomposites were affected by the calcination temperature and NiO content. As the calcination temperature increased, the specific area and pore volume increased while the pore diameter decreased slightly from 3.6 to 3.4 nm. Increasing the NiO content resulted in a slight drop in the specific surface area and pore volume. With a NiO content of 15.2 wt.%, the composite had a surface area of ∼1000 m2/g and a pore volume of 0.91 cm3/g.