NiCl2 assisted synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbon and a new strategy for a binary catalyst

Abstract

This work aims at enhancing metal-loading property of ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) by a NiCl₂ assisted synthesis. OMC containing Ni nanoparticles within the mesostructure has been synthesized using NiCl₂ instead of HCl, which acts as a catalyst for the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The regularity of OMC is preserved. It also generates a binary catalyst comprised of these metallic Ni and microwave-reduced Pt nanoparticles. Electrochemical hydrogen adsorption/desorption has shown that electrochemically active surface area of Pt/OMC-NiCl₂(15%) (78.5 m² g⁻¹) is three times greater than that of Pt/OMC-NiCl₂(2%). Methanol electro-oxidation was used as a test reaction to evaluate the catalytic activity. It can easily yield a higher mass activity when the initial Ni content is around 10–15%.