Synthesis of mesoporous silicas with different pore sizes using PEO polymers via hydrothermal treatment: A direct template for mesoporous carbon

In this paper, we used a simple hydrothermal treatment at 100 ◦C to introduce the meso-voids into the silica spheres templated by the lowtoxicity
poly(ethylene oxide) homopolymers. The generation of the meso-voids is ascribed to the mismatching interactions between the siloxane
groups on the further condensed silica wall and the ether groups in PEO polymers upon hydrothermal reaction. The void size in the silica spheres is
dependent on the pH values of the hydrothermal solution and increases with increasing the pH value. Because of the existence of the interconnective
meso-voids, the hydrothermally-treated PEO-silica spheres can be directly used as the template for mesoporous carbon without removing the PEO
polymers. After PF polymer-impregnation, curing, pyrolysis and HF-etching, the mesoporous carbon spheres of high surface area and pore volume
were obtained.