Synthesis and characterization of soft and hard templated mesoporous carbon using phloroglucinol as carbon precursor

Abstract

In this study, both soft and hard templated mesoporous carbon (ST MC and HT MC) were synthesized using phloroglucinol as carbon precursor. The templates used in soft and hard templated MC synthesis were Pluronic 127 (F-127) and SiO2, respectively. The resulting mesoporous carbon were then impregnated with Ni and characterized using FTIR, SEM-EDS, BET, and XRD to investigate the functional groups, surface morphology, chemical composition, pore character, and crystallinity of the materials. The resulting Ni/MC was then utilized as a catalyst in transformation of CO2 via carboxylation of phenylacetylene. The catalytic reactions were conducted with a variety of contact time (2, 4, 6 and 8 h) to obtain a reaction condition with the highest yield of phenyl propiolic acid. The resulting final product was tested using HPLC instrument. The phenyl propiolic acid showed best peaks at reaction time of 6 h for ST Ni MC catalyst with the area of 301 mAU and yield of 1.4 %. Meanwhile, HT Ni/MC catalyst showed the best performance in phenyl propiolic acid formation at the reaction time of 8 h with the area of 453 mAU and yield of 2.2 %.