High surface area, micro/mesoporous carbon particles with selectable 3-D biogenic morphologies for tailored catalysis, filtration, or adsorption

Biogenic 3-D SiO2 micro-assemblies (diatom microshells) of low specific surface area (SSA, <2 m(2)g(-1)) have been transformed into 3-D replicas of high SSA C (>1300 m(2)g(-1)) and Pt-loaded C (>600 m(2)g(-1)) by a shape-preserving serial reaction process. Such high SSA micro-assemblies may be generated in a wide variety of selectable 3-D shapes for tailored catalysis, filtration, or adsorption for energy storage/production, water purification, and biofuel separation.