Easy and eco-friendly synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbons by self-assembly of tannin with a block copolymer

Abstract

Ordered mesoporous carbons were prepared by the self-assembly of Mimosa tannin, a natural polyphenolic molecule, and a micellar solution of Pluronic® F127, used as soft template. The synthesis was carried out at 20 °C using water as the only solvent and without crosslinker agent (i.e., formaldehyde). When tannin, at any pH lower than 4.2, and Pluronic solutions were mixed, a phase separation mechanism immediately occurred due to the strong interaction between both polymers. The precipitated resin was recovered, dried and pyrolysed at 400, 700 and 900 °C. Ordered mesoporous carbon materials were obtained, having both high pore volume and surface areas, up to 0.64 cm³ g⁻¹ or 720 m² g⁻¹, respectively.