Hard templates synthesis applications

Several reviews covering the synthesis, properties and applications of porous carbons, especially mesoporous carbon materials, can be found in the literature. In this chapter, we summarise the recent developments in the synthesis and characterisation of templated porous carbon materials. Particular attention is paid to the synthesis of structurally ordered porous carbon materials with narrow pore size distribution via both hard and soft template methods. We especially emphasise those so-called breakthroughs in the preparation of porous carbon materials. The chapter is divided into three sections according to the pore size of carbon materials we first consider the synthesis of microporous carbon materials using zeolites and clays as hard template, then summarise the preparation of mesoporous carbon materials via both hard template and self-assembly... 

As compared to mesoporous oxide nanofibers, much lesser attention has been paid to their mesoporous amorphous carbon analogues. However, mesoporous carbon exhibits superior resistance to acids and bases, excellent heat resistance, as well as high intrinsic electric conductivity. Potential applications for hybrid membranes consisting of mesoporous carbon within hard templates include size-selective electrosorption, electrosynthesis of nanostructures, catalysis, separation and storage. The first reported procedure for the synthesis of mesoporous carbon nanofibers involved the preparation of... 

The formation of open and porous structures with extremely large surface area is of high technological significance, because this structure type is very suitable for electrodes in many electrochemical devices, such as fuel cells, batteries and sensors [1,2], and in catalysis applications [3]. The template-directed synthesis method is most commonly used for the preparation of such electrodes. This method is based on a deposition of desired materials in interstitial spaces of disposable hard template. When interstitial spaces of template are filled by deposited material, the template is removed by combustion or etching, and then the deposited material with the replica structure of the template is obtained [4, 5]. The most often used hard templates are porous polycarbonate membranes [6, 7], anodic alumina membrane [8-10], colloidal crystals [11, 12], echinoid skeletal stractures [13], and polystyrene spheres [14, 15]. 

Depending on the desired materials properties and structure, these approaches have been explored for sol-gel processing of alkoxide-based precursors and further developed in combination with many experimental parameters that can also be adjusted to control the sol composition and particle size, including alkoxide/ water ratio, concentration of the precursors, reaction temperature, reaction time, drying methods, choice and concentration of the catalyst, and the solvent used [42]. Besides the well-known hydrolytic sol-gel processes, even nonhydro-lytic approaches have been reported as a powerful method in the synthesis of mixed oxide materials and will be discussed in more detail subsequently [43]. Another processing option to tailor the material properties is the application of soft or hard templates [44]. In addition to the chemical parameters, drying and thermal treatments or firing processes determine the final architecture, chemical... 

The template synthesis for electrochemical applications was first explored by Martin. ° He introduced membrane-based synthesis by which the desired materials were prepared within the pores of a nanoporous membrane called template . More recently, other templating methods have been developed and one can distinguish hard or soft templating routes. Hard templating, usually based on colloidal crystals assemblies, is straightforward and highly effective method to prepare periodic macroporous structures that mimic the original shape of... 

To further exemplify this methodology, let us take a typical example of the application of a template reaction as seen in the synthesis of a mixed N2S2 donor macrocyclic ligand 6.11. This compound is of interest to the co-ordination chemist as it possesses a potentially square-planar array of soft (sulfur) and harder (nitrogen) donor atoms. What sort of co-ordination chemistry is it likely to exhibit Will the hard or the soft characteristics dominate The most obvious route for the synthesis of 6.11 would involve the reaction of the dithiol 6.10 with l,2-bis(bromomethyl)benzene (Fig. 6-7). 

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