Activation-free preparation of porous carbon by carbonizing phenolic resin containing pore-forming substance

This paper describes an activation-free preparation of porous carbon by carbonization of a phenolic resin (PF) containing pore formers such as m-phthalic acid (PA), trimesic acid (TMA), and phloroglucinol (PG). Monitoring of their carbonization behaviors by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) suggested that PA and TMA, which have carboxylic functional groups, decomposed as single components, i.e., they had little interaction with PF. This left pores in the obtained carbon, as shown by N2 adsorption/desorption measurements. PG, which has phenolic groups, can interact strongly with PF, and no porous structure developed in PG/PFC. This strong interaction could prevent PG from decomposing individually and leaving pores in the carbon. It was also suggested that the presence of phenolic groups might cause interactions in the blend; we therefore suggest that pore formers with carboxyl groups would be appropriate in polymer blend carbonization techniques.