Highly microporous carbon materials synthesized from fluorine-containing poly(amic acid) adsorbed in polystyrene cryogel template

Abstract

In this work, a highly microporous carbon material was synthesized through the combination of fluorine containing poly(amic acid) (F-PAA), which can produce a microporous carbon material upon carbonization, and a mesoporous polystyrene (PS) cryogel. Carbonization of F-PAA at 1000 degrees C yielded a microporous carbon material with high specific surface area (SSA, similar to 1300 m(2)/g). In addition, we prepared a PS cryogel template with microcellular structure by freeze-drying the PS solution in 1,4-dioxane. The template was then impregnated with F-PAA, followed by carbonization at 1000 degrees C. Interestingly, the carbon material obtained through this approach maintained the microcellular structure of the PS cryogel template even after template pyrolysis during carbonization. Moreover, the microcellular carbon material exhibited a high SSA and a large micropore volume (similar to 2400 m(2)/g and 0.90 cm(3)/g, respectively). (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.