Direct synthesis of unimodal and bimodal nanoporous carbon

Abstract Unimodal and bimodal nanoporous (mesoporous) carbons have been synthesized by simply removing silica from carbon/silica nanocomposites. The sucrose/silica nanocomposites are directly prepared by the sol–gel process of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) with or without colloidal silica particles in the presence of carbon precursor molecules (i.e., sucrose). Subsequent carbonization converts the sucrose/silica nanocomposites into nonporous carbon/silica composites. Removal of the silica templates results in nanoporous carbons with high surface areas (e.g., >1500 m 2 /g) and pore volumes (e.g., >1.0 cm 3 /g). Using TEOS as the only silica source, nanoporous carbons with unimodal ∼2 nm worm-like pores are produced. Nanoporous carbons with bimodal ∼2 and ∼27 nm diameter pores have been prepared by using both the TEOS-derived silica network and the colloidal silica particles as templates.