Mesoporous nickel/carbon nanotube hybrid material prepared by electroless deposition

A mesoporous nickel/carbon nanotube (Ni/CNT) hybrid material was synthesized by electroless deposition in the presence of lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) of the nonionic surfactant Brij 56 through the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of mesoporous Ni on the outer surface of the CNT template. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of the hybrid material was 112.8 m2 g-1 with a total pore volume of 0.356 cm3 g-1. Its electrochemical properties were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV), which revealed it to be a promising candidate for electrochemical energy storage applications.