Mesoporous carbons from self‐assembled polymers

Abstract

Polymer self-assembly provides a robust and cost-efficient nanomanufacturing platform for enabling a broad range of applications, such as microelectronics, drug delivery, and separation membranes. This review focuses on discussing the progress and opportunities of self-assembled polymer in the synthesis of mesoporous carbons (MCs), which have aroused significant research interests over the past decades. Specifically, we will discuss the two most established approaches for converting nanostructured polymers to MCs, including templating-based and direct pyrolysis-based methods. We will also review the fundamental ordering mechanisms and kinetics of these polymeric systems and discuss the recent development of engineering methods for providing ondemand control over the pore size and morphology of MCs. Additionally, this review article also includes a section focusing on the strategies to further functionalize these materials from self-assembled polymers to enhance their performance, such as chemical activation, heteroatom doping, introduction of nanoparticles into the carbon matrix, and enhancing graphitization degree of carbon walls. Finally, a brief perspective is provided about the emerging research opportunity in this exciting field.

Direct synthesis of ordered mesoporous materials from thermoplastic elastomers

“…Ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs), containing pores with sizes ranging from 2 to 50 nm, have attracted tremendous attention in both fundamental and applied research 1 . These materials have distinct advantages over traditional microporous carbons, including synthetic flexibility in tuning the pore size and matrix chemistry, uniform pore structures with excellent accessibility, and enhanced mass transport within the pore channels 2 . These favorable properties of OMCs enable their broad applications in diverse fields, such as energy storage 3 , 4 , water remediation 5 , catalyst supports 6 , 7 , and biomedicines 8 .…”

“…This multiple-step process can be time consuming and costly. Alternatively, OMCs can be prepared by leveraging the self-assembly behaviors of surfactants and/or polymers 2 . For example, soft-templating method is widely employed for OMC fabrication, utilizing the cooperative assembly between a carbon precursor and an amphiphilic polymer/surfactant template 10 .…”

Membranes for Osmotic Power Generation by Reverse Electrodialysis

“…Hence, it is essential to choose a precursor that will lead to the final inorganic porous structure having a sufficient mechanical strength. Several combinations of block copolymers and precursors have been successfully utilized to produce ordered mesoporous structures [ 101 ]. The polyphenolic resin resol is a popular precursor for producing mesoporous carbon materials, while mesoporous silica is often produced using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor.…”

Recent advances and emerging opportunities in rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of polymers

“…Outside of doping purposes, Zhou et al reported that well-controlled mesopores were formed from conventional annealing of electrospun PAN- b -PMMA fibers via BCP assembly. 96 Given the recent progress on the variety of polymer chemistry to fabricate mesoporous carbon 97 and the demonstration of time-efficient pyrolysis via RTA, 80 the opportunity in patterning via self-assembly is foreseen to arise. Such success in spatially controlled doping (both in-plane and out-of-plane) lays a great foundation for spin-on formation of p–n junctions by using different dopants for each block.…”