Electrodeposition of mesoporous nickel onto foamed metals using surfactant and polymer templates

High surface area electrodes are of much interest for various applications including electrochemical detectors, batteries, and fuel cells. The development of high surface area electrodes using liquid crystal templating to enhance the surface area of three-dimensional electrodes is reported. This method uses Brij 56, a nonionic surfactant, or Pluronic P123, a triblock copolymer, to template the electrodeposition of a mesoporous nickel film onto a foamed nickel electrode. This method is found to produce a 30-35 fold increase in surface area. XRD of Pluronic P123 templated nickel on gold surfaces shows a peak consistent with a pore to pore spacing of 7.5 nanometers.