Porous carbon/silica composite monoliths derived from resorcinol–formaldehyde/TEOS

Abstract Porous carbon/silica composite monoliths were generated by pyrolyzing the organic/inorganic nanocomposites rendered from co-polymerization of carbon precursor (RF: resorcinol–formaldehyde) and silica precursor (TEOS). For RF/silica composites, the gelation time was greatly reduced, and the weight residual percentage was increased with increasing TEOS content. At a proper reactant ratio, crack-free monolithic RF/silica composites with negligible shrinkage were obtained by ambient pressure drying. The structure of RF/silica and carbon/silica composites was investigated by combining SEM and N 2 adsorption measurements. The results revealed that their textural properties can be tailored by variation of the reactant ratio and the initial pH values. The porous carbon/silica composite with the largest BET surface area of 622 m 2 /g, exhibited mesopores and macropores simultaneously, resulting in a low apparent density about 0.552 g/cm 3 .