Tricomponent direct co-assembly to nitrogen-doped, ordered mesoporous carbon@silica frameworks with enhanced nitrogen stability and multi-functionalities

Abstract

Ordered mesoporous carbon@silica hybrid frameworks with high nitrogen content and good stabilities show great significance to improve their functionalities. Herein, we report novel nitrogen-doped (3.51 ∼ 4.62 wt%) and ordered mesoporous carbon@silica frameworks (N-OMC@SiO2) with reinforced nitrogen stability. The N-OMC@SiO2 were designed from tricomponent direct co-assembly between block copolymer template and mixed precursors containing urea and tetramethoxysilane without using additional solvent. The N-OMC@SiO2 have large BET surface areas (444.3 ∼ 674.9 m2/g), uniform mesoporous channels (5.8 ∼ 10.9 nm) with well-defined hexagonal symmetry, and stable carbon@silica “reinforced concrete” framework that can be transformed into carbon@silicon by controllable reduction. The nitrogen sites were firmly embedded into their frameworks via the formation of Si-N bonding. Thus, the resulted N-OMC@SiO2 exhibit multi-functionalities and enhanced recyclability in acid waste gas capture and gaseous sulfides catalytic utilization, better than many reported porous adsorbents and catalysts. This study may help develop stable and efficient N-OMCs nanocomposites for acidic gas selective removal.