Pseudomorphic Transformation of Highly Ordered Mesoporous Co3O4 to CoO via Reduction with Glycerol

In this report, we describe the exploration of possibilities for a pseudomorphic reduction of ordered mesoporous metal oxides by high temperature treatment with glycerol, which was most thoroughly studied as an example of the reaction of Co3O4 to CoO. It was found that the glycerol process is a gentle reduction procedure, which maintains the framework topology on the mesoscale while changing the oxidation state and the structure at the atomic scale.