The structure of ordered mesoporous carbons (OMC) synthesized with sucrose, furfuryl alcohol or acenaphthene using the SBA-16 mesoporous silica template with cubic Im
m structure has been investigated with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N2 adsorption. This work shows that, in contrast to carbons prepared from sucrose by using SBA-15 silica as template, the impregnation of SBA-16 with sucrose failed to produce OMC with cubic Im
m structure. However, when furfuryl alcohol and acenaphthene were used as carbon precursors, the cubic Im
m structure was retained in the products. Thus, the latter carbon precursors were more suitable than sucrose for the formation of rigidly interconnected carbon bridges through narrow apertures of the cage-like siliceous SBA-16 mesostructure. In particular, the use of furfuryl alcohol as carbon precursor allowed us to control the degree of mesopore filling in SBA-16 and consequently, to synthesize hollow or fully filled cage-like silica–carbon mesostructures as was done in the case of channel-like SBA-15. In the case of acenaphthene only fully filled mesostructures were formed but with a much higher degree of graphitization. In the present work, we took advantage of the recent developments in the synthesis of SBA-16 with tailored diameter and entrance size of mesopores and made a step forward in the fabrication of OMC by using cage-like mesoporous silicas with narrow interconnections as templates.
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