A facile one-pot synthesis of mesoporous graphite-like carbon through the organic–organic co-assembly

Mesoporous carbon materials with partially graphitized structure were synthesized by a one-pot, co-assembly of tri-block copolymer with phenolic resin under the assistance of ammonium ferric citrate. The structure was characterized by XRD, TEM, N2 sorption and TG/DTA. The mesoporous structure of the polymer conserved after the addition of ammonium ferric citrate. The graphitization of carbon material was achieved at lower temperature (700 °C), which was attributed to the catalytic property of iron, as well as the formation of carbon-polymer structure pre-carbonized at 350 °C. The final graphitic porous carbon materials had high surface area and performed well in the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. The selectivity to benzaldehyde reached 96.2%.

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► Partially graphitized mesoporous carbon was obtained by one-pot synthesis.
► The carbonization temperature was as lower as 700 °C.
► The low temperature carbonization is attributed to the catalytic property of iron.
► The graphitic porous carbon has excellent activity in oxidation of benzyl alcohol.