Control of mesoporous structure of carbons synthesised using a mesostructured silica as template

Mesoporous skeleton carbons with controllable pore size distributions (PSDs) were synthesised by modifying the extent of which the carbon precursor infiltrated the pores of the mesostructured silica, which was used as a template. When the silica porosity was fully infiltrated, carbons with a unimodal narrow PSD (similar to3 nm) were obtained. This porosity was an inverse replica of the silica framework. If the silica pores were not completely filled, carbons with bimodal PSDs were synthesised. The carbons exhibited two kinds of mesopores: pores derived from the silica walls (similar to3 nm) and larger pores, with sizes of up to 18 nm, formed from the coalescence of unfilled silica pores when the silica walls were dissolved. These results show that the synthesis of mesoporous carbons can be accurately controlled to obtain carbon materials with different PSDs using only one type of silica template. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.