la8b02562_si_001.pdf (3.07 MB)
Distinctive Performance of Gemini Surfactant in the Preparation of Hierarchically Porous Carbons via High-Internal-Phase Emulsion Template
journal contribution
posted on 2018-09-13, 00:00 authored by Yulai Zhao, Zhuang Zhao, Jing Zhang, Mengzhi Wei, Longqiang Xiao, Linxi HouThe
superior capability of gemini surfactant (GS) in the preparation
of hierarchically porous carbons via high-internal-phase emulsion
(HIPE) template followed by pyrolysis was confirmed in this work.
Polymerized HIPEs (polyHIPEs) of phenol-formaldehyde resin were prepared
by cross-linking the continuous phase of HIPEs stabilized by GS. Nonionic
surfactant and cationic surfactant were also selected to stabilize
HIPE for comparison. From scanning electron microscope observations,
polyHIPEs with open-cell pore architectures were obtained with GS
as emulsifier (polyHIPEs-GS) and the derived carbon foams (carboHIPEs-GS)
well retained the original pore architectures, whereas polyHIPEs obtained
using contrastive surfactants showed closed-cell porous structures
and notable differences were observed for the derived carboHIPEs.
Nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements indicated that polyHIPEs-GS
and carboHIPEs-GS both exhibited hierarchically porous architectures
with much higher surface areas (SA) than those of the corresponding
contrast samples. Mercury intrusion porosimetry results indicated
that carboHIPEs-GS possessed higher SA and higher porosity than that
of the contrast samples. The open-cell pore architecture and high
SA are favorable to many applications, like energy storage. carboHIPE-GS
expectably showed a higher capacitance than that of contrast samples
when used as the electrode material of supercapacitor.