Monolithic CuO-NiO aerogels via an epoxide addition route

In this report we demonstrate the synthesis of monolithic mixed copper(II)-nickel(II) (Cu-Ni) oxide aerogels using the epoxide addition method. This single step synthetic method provides a straightforward route tosynthesize highly porous CuO-NiO materials composed of nanometer sized particles. Control of the particle size and gel morphology is achieved by simple changes in the initial synthetic conditions. The as-synthesized Cu-Ni aerogels were identified as being highly amorphous with the crystalline species identified as a copper/nickel chloride hydroxide. Calcination of the aerogel materials at relatively low temperatures resulted in a complete phase transition of the material to give the CuO-NiO aerogel. The aerogels were characterized by high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption techniques (BET). The as-synthesized Cu-Ni aerogels are highly porous and exhibited high surface areas (∼400 m²/g).