Thermally controlled growth of carbon onions within porous graphitic carbon-detonation nanodiamond monolithic composites

of 5.24 nm. The bimodal porous composite contains both macropores (5 mm) and mesopores (10 nm), with a BET surface area of 214 m 2 g � 1 for a nanodiamond prepared monolith (0.012 wt% nanodiamond in the precursor mixture), approximately twice that of blank monoliths, formed without the addition of nanodiamond, thus providing a new approach to increase surface area of such porous carbon rods. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy also confirmed an enhanced graphitisation of the monolithic carbon skeleton resulting from the elevated thermal conductivity of the added nanodiamond. TEM imaging has confirmed the nanodiamond remains intact following pyrolysis at temperatures up to 900 � C.