Avoiding structure degradation during activation of ordered mesoporous carbons Original Research Article

Hierarchical micro–mesoporous carbons with high porosity development and ordered structure were prepared. The innovative proposal consists in developing microporosity in ordered mesoporous carbon by chemical activation in template presence in order to minimize the structural damage. Thus, we have directly carried out the chemical activation of a mesoporous carbon/silica composite with KOH. The effect on mesoporous ordered structure of both KOH/carbon ratio and activation temperature has been studied. Following chemical activation the specific surface area is increased from 341 to 1757 m2/g and the micropore volume becomes almost six times larger than initial value. Although a slight widening of the mesopore distribution and an increase in the mesopore volume has been observed during activation, TEM and XRD results reveal an excellent conservation of the ordered mesoporous structure during activation even at conditions well above the limits that a CMK-3 type carbon can resist.