Templated, carbothermal reduction synthesis of mesoporous silicon carbide from carbon nanotube–mesoporous silica core–shell composite

摘要

Mesoporous materials are the subject of extensive interest due to their large surface area and multiscale structuralorder. These properties are especially relevant for applications such as catalyst supports in both chemical and electrochemicalsystems. The first part of this study details the synthesis of carbon nanotube–mesoporous silica core–shell composites startingwith single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) through micellar selfassembly.The formation of such a composite structure was verified using scanning electron microscopy and further analysiswas carried out through X-ray diffraction (XRD). The subsequent refinement of the diffraction pattern revealed the silicashell to be of the continuous cubic (Ia3d) MCM48 structure. The mesoporous silica–carbon nanotube core–shell composite was later subjected to high-temperature carbothermal reduction. Subsequent XRD analysis showed that the reduction product was mesoporous silicon carbide (SiC). Thus, this study details a novel synthesis method for mesoporous SiC, which is anattractive material for possible diverse applications such as catalyst supports, intercalation electrodes and other emerginghigh technology areas.