Ordered mesoporous carbons (OMC) were synthesized using a furfuryl alcohol carbon precursor and a SBA-15 silica template under the ambient pressure conditions using template-directed synthesis strategy. Furfuryl alcohol was polymerized using Lewis acid, such as framework aluminum, $Co^{2+}, Ni^{2+}$, and $Fe^{3+}$ ions, and it was further carbonized by heating up to 900℃ inside of the SBA-15 template. The resulting OMC products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption - desorption, transmission electron microscope (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), $^1H$ NMR, and X-ray adsorption fine structure (XAFS) experiments. The correlation between the extent of the polymerization of furfuryl alcohol and the resulting mesopore structures were investigated with various conditions. Especially, if $Co^{2+}, Ni^{2+}$, and $Fe^{3+}$ ions were employed as Lewis acid catalysts for the polymerization of furfuryl alcohol, the final OMC products were supported with magnetic nanoparticles by the reduction of metal ions and could be attracted by strong hard magnets. Thus, the OMC products containing magnetic nanoparticles can be applied for the easy preparation of adsorbents for magnetic separations.
The OMC products with 2-D hexagonal symmetry, obtained by SBA-15 templates with various pore diameters and by furfuryl alcohol or acenaphthene as a carbon source, were heated with various temperatures up to 2400℃.
The structural changes of OMC structures after the high temperature heating were characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption -desorption, and TEM. The results show that the larger carbon-rod diameters exhibit the more endurance to the thermal destructions. The CMK-5 structures with tube-type framework structures from a furfuryl alcohol carbon source undergo the microphase transformations with rising temperatures, and finally the CMK-5 structures are converted to graphitic carbon framework, which are aligned with rod directions. Although the CMK-3G structures, which have a graphitic framework with perpendicular stacking to the rod directions, are relatively stable up to 1600℃, the mesoscopic orders are disappeared above at 2000℃ because of the inter-layer slippages between the discoid-carbon layers while the bulk graphites are formed.
