Ordered mesoporous carbons bimodal pore system

Lu, A.H., Schmidt, W., Spliethoff, B., and Schuth, F. (2003). Synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbon with bimodal pore system and high pore volume. Advan. Mater., 15, 1602-6. 

Hierarchically ordered mesoporous carbons (HOMC) are attractive as a support for fuel cell applications because of their interconnected bimodal pore-size distribution. Both pore systems can be mesoporous or one can be mesoporous while other can be macroporous. While a mesoporous pore structure imparts high surface area and uniform distribution of catalyst particles, macropores provide efficient mass transfer. Of course, the interconnectivity between pores has a significant role in realizing the advantages of both pore stmctures. Also, a novel feature about these structures is that the two pore structures can be adjusted independently, allowing for good control over their porosity [73, 74]. Like OMC, controllable pore structure, and carbon microstracture and surface chemistry, makes them an attractive support for fuel cell catalysis. Fang et al. have shown that Pt on hollow... 

Fuertes and Nevskaia [139] developed a vapor deposition polymerization (VDP) method to prepare OMCs. Carbon precursor FA was infiltrated into the pores via vapor-phase adsorption at room temperature. When ordered SBA-15 silica was used as a template, the resultant carbon possessed a unimodal pore structure similar to that of CMK-3. However, when a disordered mesoporous silica was used as a template, mesoporous carbon with a well-defined bimodal pore system (mesopores centered at 3 and 12 nm) was obtained, as can be seen from Figure 2.19. A mechanism responsible for the formation of such carbons was subsequently proposed [140] based on the degree of carbon infiltration, which can be controlled with the VDP method. Kruk et al. [141] described a polymerization method for carbon infiltration, which was believed to ensure uniform filling [142] and avoid the formation of nontemplated carbon. 

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