The mesostructured SBA-15 silica template was synthesized following
the typical method as reported (Zhao et al., 1998).CMMCwas
synthesized following a co-impregnation method with slight alterations
(Wanget al., 2010b). A typical procedure was carried out as follows:
0.75 mmol Fe(NO3)39H2O and 0.75 mmol Ni(NO3)26H2O
were dissolved in 0.5 ml ethanol, and then 1 ml furfuryl alcohol
was added into the mixture under stirring. And then a multi-component
solution could be prepared. Afterwards, 1.4 ml of the solution
was extracted and infiltrated into 1.2 g SBA-15 template, and then
the impregnated sample was cured at 80 C in air for 10 h to polymerize
the furfuryl alcohol. Carbonization and in situ reduction of
the metal oxides was performed under a 5% H2–95% Ar atmosphere
at 900 C for 2 h with a heating rate of 2 C min1. The product was
washed with heated 2 M NaOH solution to remove silica template,
filtrated, washed with distilled water, dried at 70 C, and stored for
further experiments.