Micro- and mesoporous carbohydrate-derived functional carbonaceous materials of a near-perfect single crystalline cubic nature were prepared via a low-temperature, sustainable hydrothermal carbonization/soft-templating approach.

The dynamic adsorption/desorption behavior of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as toluene (C7H8) and benzene (C6H6) was evaluated for three kinds of mesoporous silicas of SBA-15, all having almost the same mesopore size of ca. 5.7 nm, and a MCM-41 silica with a smaller pore size of 2.1 nm using a continuous three-step test. The fiberlike SBA-15 silica exhibited exceptionally good breakthrough behavior, a higher VOC capacity, and easier desorption. The fiberlike silica was composed through the catenation of rodlike particles. The rodlike silicas, by comparison, were proven to be less useful in dynamic adsorption processes because of lower dynamic VOC capacities despite having comparative porous parameters with the fiberlike silica. The large dynamic VOC capacity of the fiberlike silica was attributed to the presence of a bimodal pore system consisting of longer, one-dimensional mesopore channels connected by complementary micropores.

Novel, hierarchical, micro-(<2 nm), meso-/small macro-(50−60 nm), and large macro-(2−5 μm) trimodal porous functional carbon monoliths with flexible pore widths and wall textures are fabricated hydrothermally via a onepot, dual block copolymer−latex templating approach. The trimodal carbon monoliths exhibit a coral-like nanoarchitecture, consisting of a 3D continuous carbon branch network, in which an inverse opal-type nanostructure with ordered pore wall texture is embedded, possessing high surface area (e.g., >800 m 2 g −1 ), large pore volume, and highly layered porosities. The coadded block copolymer plays a triple role in the formation of the porous nanoarchitectures during hydrothermal synthesis: (1) in the formation of inverse opal pores by latex destabilization, (2) in the formation of an ordered microporous carbon wall texture by soft templating effect, and (3) in the formation of a micrometer-sized 3D continuous void by controlling the degree of spinodal phase separation. All the above nanostructuring chemistries are controllable via a simple variation in hydrothermal treatment temperature and reagent/template ratios offering nanostructural flexibility at multiple length scales, while the mild synthesis temperatures provide useful surface functionalities. The resulting materials are promising candidates for applications including (bio)electrochemistry (e.g., biofuel cells) or as biological scaffolds or separation media.

Among various techniques, the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of biomass (either isolated carbohydrates or crude plants) is a promising candidate for the synthesis of novel carbon-based materials with a wide variety of potential applications. In this Minireview, we discuss various synthetic routes towards such porous carbon-based materials or composites through the HTC process, using the nanocasting procedure. We focus on the synthesis of carbon materials with different pore systems and morphologies directed by the presence of various nanostructured inorganic sacrificial templates. This method allows tailoring of the final structure via the tools of colloid and polymer science, leading to selectable material morphology for a wide range of applications.