Tailoring the porosity of a mesoporous carbon by a solvent-free mechanochemical approach

The synthesis of mesoporous carbons with well-defined and tailored pores conventionally involves the use of solvents and proceeds via multiple synthesis steps such as template synthesis and precursor infiltration. In this work, a solvent-free mechanochemical polymerization is used to derive mesoporous carbons with narrow pore size distributions and specific surface areas of up to 1660 m2 g−1. The size of the mesopores can be tailored by simply adjusting milling parameters like the milling speed. Finally, the carbons have been applied as supercapacitors through a new approach - the ‘in situ electrolyte’ concept. This holistic concept does not treat the accumulating by-products of the carbon synthesis as waste, but rather utilizes them directly as electrolyte salts. With this, washing steps are circumvented and the use of any solvent becomes obsolete.