Sculpture preparation of crystalline mesoporous carbons from nanoshell-containing carbon

Crystalline mesoporous carbon was prepared from nanoshell-containing carbon (NSCC) by a sculpturing technique, i.e., the selective oxidation of amorphous carbon moieties (ACM) in NSCC using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) treatment. The carbon structures of the NSCC and the H2O2-treated NSCC were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement and N2 adsorption-desorption. Multiple repetitions of the treatment resulted in an increase of nanoshell fraction by the selective oxidation of the ACM intrinsically included in NSCC. This was confirmed by TEM, SEM and XRD measurements. N2 adsorption-desorption measurement showed that the treatment caused remarkable increases in mesopore volumes and the mesopore ratios. In particular, when the treatment was repeated five times the highest mesopore ratio of approximately unity was observed.