Graphitic mesoporous carbons synthesised through mesostructured silica templates

In this paper the fabrication and characterization of graphitizable and graphitized porous carbons with a well-developed mesoporosity is described. The synthetic route used to prepare the graphitizable carbons was: (a) the infiltration of the porosity of mesoporous silica with a solution containing the carbon precursor (i.e. poly-vinyl chloride, PVC), (b) the carbonisation of the silica-PVC composite and (c) the removal of the silica skeletal. Carbons obtained in this way have a certain graphitic order and a good electrical conductivity (0.3 Scm(-1)), which is two orders larger than that of a non-graphitizable carbon. In addition, these materials have a high BET surface area (> 900 m(2) g(-1)), a large pore volume (> 1 cm(3) g(-1)) and a bimodal porosity made up of mesopores. The pore structure of these carbons can be tailored as a function of the type of silica selected as template. Thus, whereas a graphitizable carbon with a well-ordered porosity is obtained from SBA-15 silica, a carbon with a wormhole pore structure results when MSU-1 silica is used as template. The heat treatment of a graphitizable carbon at a high temperature (2300 degreesC) allows it to be converted into a graphitized porous carbon with a relatively high BET surface area (260 m(2) g(-1)) and a porosity made up of mesopores in the 2-15 nm range. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.