Functionalization of Mesoporous Silicas as Strategy for Obtaining Nanocomposites with Controlled Graphitic Domains Quantity and Carbon Content

We report in this work the use of a synthetic procedure to prepare silica-carbon composites with controlled carbon content and number of graphitic nanocarbon domains. This synthetic protocol was applied to prepare carbon nanostructures supported at two different amorphous silicas that have similar disordered pore system structure but different specific surface areas and pore volumes. The carbon nanostructures were obtained by the silica surface grafting with different amounts of 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (DN) using a dehydration reaction followed by pyrolysis at temperatures between 973 and 1173 K. We observed that the number of the graphitic nanodomains and the carbon loading at the pyrolysed samples could be tuned by the synthetic parameters during the functionalization and thermal treatment steps, as by the textural properties of the support.