International Research Training Group Diffusion in Porous Materials

The discovery of ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) in 1999 has opened a new chapter in the research of ordered mesoporous materials. The first OMCs were obtained by filling the pores of silica nanostructures (used as hard templates) with suitable carbon precursors followed by carbonization and dissolution of the template. Recently, a simple and feasible way of preparing mesoporous carbons by self-assembly of appropriate polymerizing organics (carbon precursors) and triblock copolymers (soft template) has been reported. This presentation provides a brief overview of the hard-templating and soft-templating synthesis of OMCs with special emphasis on their adsorption properties and characterization. The former synthesis strategy involves the use of ordered mesoporous silicas, colloidal silica and colloidal crystals as hard templates. While a complete filling of the template pores with carbon precursors affords true inverse carbon replicas, an incomplete filling of pores (so-called film-type replication) results in carbons with extremely large pore volume. The latter synthesis is based on the introduction of carbon precursors into the organized phase of block copolymer (soft template). Both, hard-templating and sof-templating synthesis of mesoporous carbons allow for tailoring catalytic properties of carbons by adding inorganic species and/or nanoparticles of metals and metal oxides.