Synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbons by a soft-templating method

Ordered mesoporous carbons were synthesized by using an organic-organic self-assembly (soft-templating) method using resorcinol (R) / formaldehyde (F) and triblock copolymer Pluronic F127. A hexagonal mesostructure with channel like pores (COU-1) with a pore size of 4.7–5.8 nm and a 3D wormhole-like mesopore structure (COU-2) with a pore size of 4.8 nm were synthesized using precursor solutions with different mass ratios of F127/RF resin. The mesoporous carbons were activated by using KOH to improve their porosity. The KOH-activated COU-2 carbon showed superior capacitance compared to the COU-2 carbon and a commercial microporous carbon. Ultrathin carbon films with a monolayer of uniform mesopores were also synthesized on a silicon substrate by contacting a triblock copolymer film with a benzyl alcohol vapor followed by carbonization.