Nitrogen-containing mesoporous carbons prepared from melamine formaldehyde resins with CaCl₂ as a template

Melamine formaldehyde resins were synthesized with encapsulated CaCl₂ as a template. Carbonization at high temperatures led to the formation of carbon materials containing N atoms. Washing with de-ionized water removed encapsulated CaCl₂, resulting in the formation of mesopores (3–30nm) with the high surface areas (770–1300m²/g). The template can be recycled and the method is simple and cost effective as compared to the hard template techniques. The mesoporous carbons containing nitrogen (NMC) thus prepared exhibited the amphipathic surfaces (both hydrophilic and lipophilic) and adsorbed great amount of water and benzene. In addition, the incorporated N atoms exhibited quite strong basicity for the adsorption of great amount of SO₂.