Mesoporous carbon materials: synthesis and modification.

Porous carbon materials are of interest in many applications because of their high surface area and physicochemical properties. Conventional syntheses can only produce randomly porous materials, with little control over the pore-size distributions, let alone mesostructures. Recent breakthroughs in the preparation of other porous materials have resulted in the development of methods for the preparation of mesoporous carbon materials with extremely high surface areas and ordered mesostructures, with potential applications as catalysts, separation media, and advanced electronic materials in many scientific disciplines.

Surface functionalization of ordered mesoporous carbons--a comparative study.

Hexagonally structured mesoporous carbons C15 and CMK-5 and cubically structured carbon C48 were synthesized using ordered silica SBA-15 and MCM-48 as templates and carbon precursors of different structures. The surfaces of these ordered carbons were chemically functionalized by employing an approach, in which the selected diazonium compounds were in situ generated and reacted with the carbon frameworks of the mesoporous carbons. The aromatic organic molecules containing chlorine, ester, and alkyl groups were covalently attached to the surface of these ordered mesoporous carbons.

Comparative thermogravimetric and adsorption study of highly ordered mesoporous materials.

A comparative study was carried out for highly ordered mesoporous materials using high resolution thermogravimetry (HR-TG) and adsorption techniques. These materials were synthesized with mixed surfactants of various alkyl chain lengths. For thermogravimetry measurements n-butanol was used to probe the adsorbent surface and high-resolution TG curves as well as their 1st and 2nd derivatives were obtained for this probe molecule.

Fluorinated carbon with ordered mesoporous structure.

Fluorination and structural change of highly ordered mesoporous carbons were studied. Mesoporous and fluorinated carbons with ordered cubic structure were synthesized and characterized with TEM, FTIR, adsorption, and EDX.

Colloid-imprinted carbons as stationary phases for reversed-phase liquid chromatography.

A novel colloid-imprinting method is employed for the preparation of carbonaceous stationary phases for reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). This colloid-imprinting method combined with oxidative stabilization treatment affords carbons with a porous shell/nonporous core structure. The particle morphology, pore size, pore shape, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of these carbons can be finely tuned by selecting proper experimental conditions.

Nitrogen adsorption characterization of aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes and their acid modification.

Aligned multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays were synthesized by using an iron-based sol-gel catalyst and acetylene as the precursor. These CNTs show high purity, uniform diameters and pore-wall thickness. Low temperature nitrogen adsorption was employed to characterize the structural and surface properties of the as-synthesized sample and that modified with boiling concentrated nitric acid.