Unusual ordered mesoporous carbon material with short channels and big pore size: Synthesis and effective adsorption of Cr(VI)

A new ordered mesoporous carbon material, characterized by 300–400 nm long nano-channels, 10 nm big pore size and a specific area at 651 m 2 /g was successfully synthesized for the first time using a novel mesoporous silica material as template agent. The carbon nano-channels in this new OCNB material are highly hexagonally ordered. In the removal of Cr(VI) in aqueous solution, due to its shortened channels and big pore size, this OCNB material exhibits 7 times faster adsorption rate and 3.2 times higher adsorption capacity comparing to a commercial activated carbon material. The channel structure of this OCNB material was found to be a crucial role in the removal of metal ions in aqueous solution to achieve high removal rate and high equilibrium adsorbing quantity due to the reduction of mass transfer resistance inside the short and straight nano-channels of the OCNB material. This work presents a successful demonstration to meet the demand of highly efficient mass transfer in some processes like the removal of metal ions in aqueous solution by tuning the channel structure of ordered mesoporous carbon materials.