Facile Fabrication of Hierarchically Porous Carbonaceous Monoliths with Ordered Mesostructure via an Organic-Organic Self-Assembly

A simple strategy for the synthesis of macro-mesoporous carbonaceous monolith materials has been demonstrated through an organic-organic self-assembly at the interface of an organic scaffold such as polyurethane (PU) foam. Hierarchically porous carbonaceous monoliths with cubic (Im (3) over barm) or hexagonal (p6mm) mesostructure were prepared through evaporation induced self-assembly of the mesostructure on the three-dimensional (3-D) interconnecting struts of the PU foam scaffold. The preparation was carried out by using phenol/formaldehyde resol as a carbon precursor, triblock copolymer F127 as a template for the mesostructure and PU foam as a sacrificial monolithic scaffold. Their hierarchical pore system was macroscopically fabricated with cable-like mesostructured carbonaceous struts. The carbonaceous monoliths exhibit macropores of diameter 100 450 mu m, adjustable uniform mesopores (3.8-7.5 nm), high surface areas (200 870 m(2)/g), and large pore volumes (0.17-0.58) cm(3)/g. Compared with the corresponding evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) process on a planar substrate, this facile process is a time-saving, labor-saving, space-saving, and highly efficient pathway for mass production of ordered mesoporous materials.