Preparation and electrochemical performance of novel ordered mesoporous carbon with an interconnected channel structure.

A novel ordered mesoporous carbon with an interconnected channel structure (OMC-IC) has been successfully fabricated by adding proper hydrophilic SiO(2) nanoparticles to the solution of triblock copolymer F127 and phenol-formaldehyde resol. Experimental results show that the presence of SiO(2) nanoparticles does not hamper the self-assembly of F127 and resol to form an ordered two-dimensional hexagonal mesostructure. The neighboring channels of the OMC-IC are interconnected after removing SiO(2) nanoparticles with a diameter larger than the thickness of the carbon wall. Such an interconnectivity of channels is beneficial in improving ion diffusion properties. The as-prepared OMC-IC exhibits much lower impedance to ion transport within both the channels and the micropores in the carbon wall, and thus has better electric double layer performance as compared to the conventional OMC with an unconnected channel structure.