Preparing mesoporous carbon and silica with rosin-silica composite gel

Mesoporous carbon and mesoporous silica were prepared respectively with a same rosin-silica nanocomposite gel which was synthesized by cogelating tetra-ethyl-oxy-silane (silica source) and rosin (carbon source). Carbonizing the gel in nitrogen and then etching away silica with alkaline solution, mesoporous carbon with specific surface area larger than 800 m2/g was obtained. If calcining the gel at high temperature in air for given time, porous silica with surface area higher than 700 m2/g was done. BET measurement was employed to investigate the pore distribution and surface area of the samples. Most of the pores in both the porous carbon and porous silica were mesoscale, which makes the materials potential in enzyme supports for bio-catalyzed reaction or adsorbents for contaminants with large molecular size.