A self-standing mesoporous carbon membrane which is obtainable by combining the following steps and has an ordered mesoporous structure in which mesopores are oriented in a direction perpendicular to a surface plane:(i) applying a mixture of a surfactant and a carbon precursor composed of a thermosetting resin precursor and a crosslinking agent therefor, to the surface of a substrate, to form a membrane of the mixture;(ii) drying the membrane at 15 to 30° C. under the atmospheric pressure;(iii) heating the dried membrane, to cause polymerization of the carbon precursor;(iv) baking to carbonize the polymerized membrane;(v) peeling the baked and carbonized membrane from the substrate; and(vi) baking further to carbonize the peeled carbon membrane that is self-standing.展开▼
