Morphological characterization of mesoporous silicate-carbon nanocomposites

Mesoporous MCM-41-carbon nanocomposites were prepared in several Si:C ratios from amorphous active carbon, graphite and multi-wall carbon nanotube carbon sources. A complete morphological characterization of the samples was performed using XRD, TEM, SEM, N2 adsorption and surface hydrophilicity measurements. Specific surface area, pore size distribution, surface fractal dimension and the dimension of capillary condensation were calculated and the adsorption excess isotherms of the ethanol-cyclohexane system were measured. Our results show that the three carbon types give rise to rather different composite morphological features. On this basis the fine tuning of carbon-silicate composite properties by design appears feasible.