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Nanoporous carbide-derived carbon with tunable pore size

Nature Materials volume 2, pages 591–594 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Porous solids are of great technological importance due to their ability to interact with gases and liquids not only at the surface, but throughout their bulk1. Although large pores can be produced and well controlled in a variety of materials2, nanopores in the range of 2 nm and below (micropores, according to IUPAC classification) are usually achieved only in carbons or zeolites. To date, major efforts in the field of porous materials have been directed towards control of the size, shape and uniformity of the pores. Here we demonstrate that porosity of carbide-derived carbons (CDCs)3,4,5,6,7,8,9 can be tuned with subångström accuracy in a wide range by controlling the chlorination temperature. CDC produced from Ti3SiC2 has a narrower pore-size distribution than single-wall carbon nanotubes or activated carbons; its pore-size distribution is comparable to that of zeolites. CDCs are produced at temperatures from 200–1,200 °C as a powder, a coating, a membrane or parts with near-final shapes, with or without mesopores. They can find applications in molecular sieves, gas storage, catalysts, adsorbents, battery electrodes, supercapacitors, water/air filters and medical devices.

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Figure 1: Differential pore-size distributions for CDC.
Figure 2: Dependences of the radius of gyration (Rg) and pore size on chlorination temperature.
Figure 3: Raman spectra and transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of CDC produced at different temperatures.
Figure 4: Scanning electron microscope images of a sample surface.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to W.-H. Shih, Drexel University, for help with nitrogen BET measurements. The work at Drexel University was supported by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency through an Office of Naval Research (ONR) contract. The TEM used is operated by the Regional Materials Characterization Facility at the University of Pennsylvania. Purchase of the Raman spectrometer and SEM were supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) grants DMR-0116645 and BES-0216343. The work at Pennsylvania State University was supported by ONR grant N00014-00-1-0720 and NSF grant DMR-0103585. M.B. was supported by NSF grant DMR-0072067.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Yury Gogotsi, Alexei Nikitin, Haihui Ye & Michel W. Barsoum

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, 3231 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 19104-6272, Pennsylvania, USA

    Wei Zhou & John E. Fischer

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16801, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bo Yi & Henry C. Foley

Authors
  1. Yury Gogotsi
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Correspondence to Yury Gogotsi.

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Supplementary Fig. S3

Supplementary Table S1

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Gogotsi, Y., Nikitin, A., Ye, H. et al. Nanoporous carbide-derived carbon with tunable pore size. Nature Mater 2, 591–594 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat957

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