Fabrication of hierarchically structured carbon monoliths via self-binding and salt templating

A new synthetic method is reported for the preparation of hierarchically structured carbon monoliths by self-binding and salt templating, which involves the mixing and shaping of SBA-15/poly(furfuryl alcohol) composites with small particle NaCl. After carbonization and leaching out the salt with water and the silica with NaOH solution, hierarchically structured carbon monoliths are obtained, which show the presence of macropores and mesopores derived from the removal of salt and silica, respectively. Such carbon monoliths can be further used as template to create monolithic CoAl2O4 spinel. The well preserved monolithic form of the spinel obtained from the hard template demonstrate the suitability of such hierarchically porous carbon monolith for templating other monolithic nano-structured materials.