Ordered Mesoporous Boron Carbide Based Materials via Precursor Nanocasting

Ordered mesoporous boron carbide materials with high specific surface areas up to 778 m(2)/g and hexagonal pore arrangement symmetries were obtained for the first time using a nanocasting strategy and the molecular bisdecaboranyl-hexane precursor for the infiltration into an ordered mesoporous silica template (SBA-15). Different preparation conditions were investigated, and it was found that by adjusting the precursor loading either nanorod structured replicas or tubular structured (CMK-5-like) materials were obtained. Changing the impregnation techniques, the solvents, and/or the pyrolysis temperatures allows tailoring of the properties of the hexagonal ordered mesoporous boron carbide replicas. The pore arrangement was altered to cubic ordered mesoporous boron carbide using KIT-6 silica matrix for nanocasting.