Imprinted mesoporous carbons and a method of manufacture thereof

Abstract

A porous carbon composition comprises carbon particles having substantially uniform mesopores, wherein the mesopores have a diameter greater than 5 nanometers. A carbon composition may also comprise carbon particles having a predetermined surface configuration, wherein the surface configuration inversely corresponds to the configuration of at least a portion of an imprinting material. A method of synthesizing mesoporous carbon particles comprises the steps of providing particles of at least one carbon precursor, mixing the particles of at least one carbon precursor with a medium containing an imprinting material to form pretreated solid carbon precursor particles, heating the pretreated solid carbon precursor particles to a temperature at least as high as 20° C. below the softening point of the solid carbon precursor, optionally, stabilizing the solid carbon precursor in air, carbonizing the carbon precursor to form carbon hybrid particles, and removing the imprinting material from the carbon hybrid particles.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A method of synthesizing mesoporous carbon particles comprising the steps of: 
 providing particles of at least one carbon precursor;    mixing the particles of at least one carbon precursor with a medium containing an imprinting material to form pretreated solid carbon precursor particles;    heating the pretreated solid carbon precursor particles to a temperature at least as high as 20° C. below the softening point of the solid carbon precursor;    optionally, stabilizing the solid carbon precursor in air;    carbonizing the carbon precursor to form carbon hybrid particles; and    removing the imprinting material from the carbon hybrid particles to form mesoporous carbon particles.    
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid carbon precursor is selected from the consisting of mesophase pitch, carbon-containing synthetic pitch, isotropic petroleum pitch, coal tar based pitch, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile and phenolic resin.  
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the imprinting material is spherical silica particles measuring between about 5 nanometers and about 1 micrometer in at least one dimension.  
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the imprinting material is silica particles measuring between about 1 micrometer and about 50 micrometers in at least one dimension.  
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the medium containing an imprinting material is a water-organic solution mixture.  
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of heating the pretreated solid carbon precursor particles to a temperature at least as high as 20° C. below the softening point of the carbon precursor takes place in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.  
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of heating the pretreated solid carbon precursor particles to a temperature at least as high as 20° C. below the softening point of the carbon precursor takes place at a temperature between about the softening point of the carbon precursor and about 200° C. above the softening point of the carbon precursor.  
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the step of heating the pretreated solid carbon precursor particles to a temperature at least as high as 20° C. below the softening point of the solid carbon precursor takes place in a nitrogen or argon atmosphere.  
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of stabilizing the carbon precursor includes thermal treatment in air at about 220° C.  
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the step of carbonizing the carbon precursor to form silica-carbon hybrid particles includes heating the pretreated solid carbon precursor particles in an inert atmosphere.  
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the imprinting material is silica and wherein the step of removing the imprinting material from the carbon hybrid particles is selected from the group consisting of treating the carbon hybrid particles with a basic solution at a temperature above room temperature, and treating the carbon hybrid particles with HF.  
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the optional stabilizing process is performed.  
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the imprinting material additionally comprises colloidal particles selected from the group consisting of metals and metal oxides.  
     
     
         14 . A carbon particle made according to the method of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         15 . A porous carbon composition comprising carbon particles having substantially uniform mesopores, wherein the mesopores have a diameter greater than 5 nanometers.  
     
     
         16 . The porous carbon composition according to  claim 15 , containing interconnected mesopores and having microporosity below 2 percent of the total pore volume.  
     
     
         17 . The porous carbon composition according to  claim 15 , wherein the particles are selected from the group consisting of fibers, flakes and spherical particles.  
     
     
         18 . The porous carbon composition according to  claim 15 , wherein the pore structure is bi-modal.  
     
     
         19 . The porous carbon composition according to  claim 15 , additionally comprising a catalyst selected from the group consisting of metals and metal oxides.  
     
     
         20 . The porous carbon composition according to  claim 15 , wherein the carbon composition is a separation medium.  
     
     
         21 . The porous carbon composition according to  claim 15 , wherein the carbon composition is a component of a rechargable battery.  
     
     
         22 . A carbon composition, comprising carbon particles having a predetermined surface configuration, wherein the surface configuration inversely corresponds to the configuration of at least a portion of an imprinting material.