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The sol-gel polymerization of resorcinol/formaldehyde mixtures to obtain porous gels is typically a long process performed throughout several days. In this work, we have explored an experimental approach to reduce the time necessary to obtain porous gels based on mild polymerization conditions and direct drying. We have analyzed the effects of the temperature and time of the gelation/aging step on the porosity of the gels, as well as the impact on the overall energetic cost of the process. Data have shown that well-developed micro-mesoporous architectures can be obtained within less than a day. The temperature of the gelation/aging step mainly affects the mesopore network, whereas the microporosity is determined by the composition of the precursor's mixture. The exclusion of the solvent exchange step yields soft mechanically fragile porous gels with structural limitations upon carbonization at high temperature in inert atmosphere, due to the surface tensions applied to the backbone during the evolution of volatiles. The mesopore structure lost during carbonization is not recovered upon activation in CO 2 atmosphere, but it is preserved upon chemical activation in K 2 CO 3 and the resulting gel exhibits a bimodal micro-mesoporous distribution. Furthermore, the energy savings of this route are similar to those obtained using microwave-heating in terms of grams of xerogel per kilowatt hour of energy consumed for similar textural properties. The correlation between the energy power consumed and the textural parameters is a useful tool to optimize the synthesis.

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A series of activated carbons (ACs) were prepared by modifying a commercial AC by physical activation using CO 2 during different activation times. The ACs were designated as F, F12, F24 and F40 corresponding to the activation times of 0, 12, 24 and 40 hours, respectively. The surface area, total pore volume, micropore volume and mean micropore width were determined for all the ACs. The textural properties of the modified ACs increased substantially with the activation time, and the capacity of the ACs for adsorbing diclofenac (DCF) was almost linearly dependent upon the surface area of the ACS. The maximum adsorption capacities of F, F12, F24 and F40 carbons towards diclofenac (DCF) from aqueous solution were 271, 522, 821 and 1033 mg/g, respectively. Hence, the adsorption capacities of ACs were considerably enhanced with the activation time, and F12, F24 and F40 carbons presented the highest adsorption capacities towards DCF reported in the technical literature. The F40 adsorption capacity was at least twice those of other carbon materials. The adsorption capacities decreased by raising the pH from 7 to 11 due to electrostatic repulsion between the ACs surface and anionic DCF in solution. The removal of DCF from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent was effectively carried out by adsorption on F40. Hence, the capacity of ACs for adsorbing DCF can be optimized by tailoring the porous structure of ACs.