A new sol-gel method for synthesis of mesoporous NiO

Mesoporous nickel oxide (NiO) was synthesized by sol-gel method with saponificated chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) as template and Ni (II) acetate as starting material. X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks at low scattering angles, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N2 sorption isotherm plot indicated that a mesostructure was formed. Surface area, pore volume, pore diameter and pore size distribution of NiO mesoporous were determined. It exhibits high surface area and uniform pores with very sharp pore size distribution in desorption branch which centered at 3.55 nm.