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A N N A L E S U N I V E R S I T A T I S M A R I A E C U R I E - S K Ł O D O W S K A
L U B L I N – P O L O N I A
VOL. LXIV, 18 SECTIO AA 2009
Soft-templating synthesis of nanoporous carbons
with incorporated alumina nanoparticles♣
J. Choma1, A. Żubrowska
2, J. Górka
2 and M. Jaroniec
2
1Institute of Chemistry, Military Technical Academy, 00-908 Warsaw;
e-mail: jchoma@wat.edu.pl 2Department of Chemistry, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA;
e-mail: jaroniec@kent.edu
Soft-templated microporous-mesoporous carbons with embedded alumina
nanoparticles were synthesized using resorcinol and formaldehyde as
carbon precursors, different inorganic acids as a catalyst and poly(ethylene
oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer as a
soft template. The carbons studied have very good adsorption properties
such as high specific surface area, uniform pore size distribution and a large
total pore volume. The choice of catalyst seems to play an important role
for the incorporation of aluminum species to the carbon framework, which
after thermal treatment form aluminum oxide nanoparticles. This simple
approach seems to be very promising for the design of carbon-based
materials for a broad range of applications.
1. INTRODUCTION
Ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) have been found to be very attractive
materials due to their properties such as structural regularity, chemical and
thermal stability, high surface area for dispersion of catalytic nanoparticles,
electrical conductivity; and many potential applications in the fields of catalysis,
adsorption, biomedical engineering, gas and energy storage. The discovery of
OMCs in 1999 has been considered as a major breakthrough in the field of
ordered nanoporous materials [1]. The first OMC was obtained by filling the
♣This article is dedicated to Professor Roman Leboda on the occasion of his
65th birthday
annaPływające pole tekstoweDOI: 10.2478/v10063-008-0019-2
260 J. Choma, A. Żubrowska, J. Górka and M. Jaroniec
pores of ordered mesoporous silica (OMS), e.g., MCM-48 (used as a hard
template) with sucrose (used as a carbon precursor) followed by carbonization
and dissolution of the siliceous template. The hard templating (nanocasting)
became a very popular strategy for the preparation of OMCs, which in this case
are inverse replicas of the silica templates used [2-6]. The major disadvantages
of this strategy include the preparation of ordered (3D) mesoporous siliceous
hard templates and the dissolution of these templates using hazardous
hydrofluoric acid or sodium hydroxide solutions.
Recently, a simple and feasible way of preparing nanoporous carbons by self-
assembly of appropriate polymerizing organics (carbon precursors), e.g.,
phenolic resins, and triblock copolymers (soft template), e.g., Pluronic F127, has
been reported [7-8]. A controlled thermal treatment of the resulting polymer-
polymer nanocomposites is used to remove (decompose) the triblock copolymer
(soft template) leaving behind large and uniform mesopores and to carbonize the
remaining polymer (carbon precursor). The main reason for considering the soft-
templating synthesis of mesoporous carbons as a major step in carbon materials
science is due to the reduced number of preparation steps as well as to the usage
of the block copolymers, which in addition to commercial availability and
biodegradability are able to form ordered mesophases that can be used as easily
decomposable (at about 4000C) templates.
Some advanced applications of OMCs require precise control of the pore
size, pore volume and the specific surface area as well as the introduction of
different functionalities, heteroatoms and nanoparticles into mesoporous
carbons, which may cause significant changes in the properties of the resulting
materials. For instance, incorporation of magnetic metal or metal oxide
nanoparticles into hard-templated OMCs afford materials of desired surface
chemistry, which are sensitive to the external magnetic field. These properties
combined with easily accessible mesoporosity are essential to make the resulting
materials potentially useful as magnetically separable catalysts [9], catalyst
supports [10, 11], and adsorbents [12].
In the case of soft-templated carbons, one of the procedures employed for
introduction of inorganic particles involves the use of commercially available
nanoparticles during organic-organic self-assembly. Interestingly, the addition of
foreign species does not disturb the mesostructure formation and results in the
carbons with very uniform mesopores (~10 nm) and high loading of
nanoparticles (up to 50%) [13, 14]. An alternative strategy employs the addition
of inorganic salts to the reaction mixture, which under thermal treatment can be
transformed into inorganic nanoparticles embedded in the carbon matrix. The
first implementation of the aforementioned synthetic pathway was achieved by
using TiCl4 as a metal precursor, resol as a carbon precursor and triblock
copolymer as a template [15]. The resulting highly ordered mesoporous carbon-
Soft-templating synthesis of nanoporous carbons with… 261
titania nanocomposites with “bricked-mortar” frameworks possessed high
surface areas (465 m2/g), moderate pore widths (∼ 4.1 nm) and high thermal
stability (up to 7000C). More recently, the same group demonstrated a new
approach to the preparation of crystalline C-TiO2 composites [16] by using acid-
base pairs (TiCl4 and Ti(OC4H7)4) as a titanium source and phenolic resin as a
carbon precursor; this approach resulted in the carbon-titania composite with the
titania content as high as 87 wt %. The mesostructured composite consisted of
anatase nanocrystals embedded in amorphous carbon, and exhibiting good
adsorption properties such as the surface area of ~200 m2/g and the pore volume
of ~0.15 cm3/g.
Also, the soft-templated mesoporous carbons containing iridium particles
have been reported [17]. It was found that the aging time of the gel and the molar
ratio of resorcinol to formaldehyde affect not only the carbon ordering but also
the size of nanoparticles formed. This synthesis route afforded mesoporous
carbons with small (∼ 2 nm) and highly dispersed iridium particles. The catalytic
test of the resulting materials revealed their high activity toward decomposition
of N2H4.
As it was mentioned above, there is a great interest in the area of ordered
mesoporous carbons possessing magnetic frameworks due to their possible
applications, e.g., magnetic storage media [18]. Now, easy and cost effective
soft-templating synthesis of mesoporous carbons can offer a good response to
this need, in contrast to quite a fussy hard-templating method. The recently
reported “one-pot” synthesis of γ-Fe2O3-containing mesoporous carbons obtained
by the co-assembly of block-copolymer with resol and ferric citrate led to the
maghemite/carbon nanocomposites having excellent supermagnetic properties
[19]. It has been shown that the samples with low γ-Fe2O3 content (such as
9.0 wt %) possess an ordered 2D hexagonal (p6mm) structure, uniform meso-
pores (∼ 4.0 nm), high surface areas (up to 590 m2/g) and pore volumes (up to
0.48 cm3/g). Although, an increase in the γ-Fe2O3 loading caused the
corresponding decrease in the surface area and pore volume.
Another example of magnetically separable ordered mesoporous carbons with
well-dispersed nickel nanoparticles in the carbon walls was presented by Yao et
al. [20]. In this case, the Ni/OMC composites exhibited the soft ferromagnetic
behavior, where the magnetization can be tuned by changing the Ni content and
pyrolysis temperatures. Additionally, these nanocomposites have been found to
be very resistant to acid leaching, which makes them valuable in magnetic
separations. Noteworthy, this was the first report of metal-containing carbons
with a cubic structure of Im3m symmetry. Probably due to different synthesis
conditions, which govern the formation of the cubic instead of channel-like
structure, the size of Ni nanocrystals stays nearly the same (~20 nm) regardless
262 J. Choma, A. Żubrowska, J. Górka and M. Jaroniec
the Ni weight content in the sample. In contrast, the work reported by Wang and
Dai [21] shows that the average size of Ni particles increased with the metal
loading. There is some evidence that the nanoparticles can be formed in the
carbon matrix and on the outer surface of hexagonally ordered carbons as well.
Besides that, the resulting Ni-carbon composites exhibited good structural
properties such as large and uniform mesopores (~7 nm), total pore volume
(0.46-0.68 cm3/g) and high BET surface area (up to 660 m
2/g).
The idea of using salt not only for generation nanoparticles in OMCs but also
as a catalyst for hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), employed as a
mesostructure reinforcing agent, was reported by Zhou et al. [22]. Depending on
the NiCl2 concentration, the Ni-C composite obtained after silica dissolution
exhibited high specific surface area (1220 m2/g). The as-prepared Ni-C samples
served as supports for Pt nanoparticles formed under microwave conditions. The
resulting binary catalyst (consisted of metallic Ni and Pt nanoparticles) has
shown its catalytic activity in the methanol electro-oxidation reaction. Also, the
concept of using TEOS to reinforce the mesostructure formation and to improve
the overall structural parameters of samples was employed to obtain carbon-
supported ruthenium catalyst for benzene hydrogenation [23].
Here we report the soft-templated synthesis of mesoporous carbons with
alumina nanoparticles embedded in the carbon matrix. In order to obtain good
adsorption and structural parameters of alumina-carbon composites, different
acids and/or acids mixtures were investigated in terms of their catalytic activity
in the co-assembly process. The simplicity of this one-post synthesis route,
affordability of reagents and good adsorption properties of the resulting alumina-
carbons, these materials are promising for catalytic applications.
2. EXPERIMENTAL
Chemicals. Poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide)
triblock copolymer (EO106PO70EO106;Pluronic F127) was provided by BASF
Corp.; resorcinol (C6H4(OH)2; 98%); formaldehyde (HCHO; 37%); nitric acid
(HNO3; 68–70%) and aluminium isopropoxide (Al(O(CH(CH3)2)3 or Al(O-i-Pr)3;
98+%), were purchased from Acros Organics. HCl (35–38%) was acquired from
Fischer; acetic acid glacial (CH3COOH) from Mallinckrodt and ethanol (95%)
from Pharmco.
Materials. Mesoporous carbon samples were prepared according to a slightly
modified procedure of Dai et al. [24]. In a typical synthesis, 1.25 g of resorcinol
and 1.25 g of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide)
triblock copolymer (Pluronic F127) were dissolved in 8.1 g of ethanol-water
(10:7 wt ratio) solution and stirred vigorously at room temperature. After
Soft-templating synthesis of nanoporous carbons with… 263
complete copolymer dissolution, different acids (acetic acid – A, nitric acid – N,
hydrochloric acid – C) were added to the solution as a catalyst (see Table 1). The
resulting solution was stirred for additional 30 min. Subsequently, 1.25 mL of
37% formaldehyde was added to the synthesis mixture. After 15 min., a solution
of aluminium isopropoxide was introduced to the synthesis mixture. The latter
solution was made in two different ways: (i) 0.52g of aluminium isopropoxide
was mixed with different acids (see Table 1) and then 1mL of ethanol was added
to the solution (samples without *), and (ii) solution compositions were the same
but ethanol was added before acid addition (samples with *); in the latter case a
clear solution of aluminum isopropoxide was obtained. The resulting mixture
turned to be cloudy after 1-2 hrs stirring; finally, it separated into two layers. The
polymer-rich bottom layer obtained after separation was transferred to an
autoclave and treated at 1000C for 24 h. Carbonization of the resulting film was
performed in the tube furnace under nitrogen flow using a heating rate of
20C/min up to 180
0C, keeping the sample at this temperature for 5 h, resuming
heating with 20C/min up to 400
0C and with 5
0C/min up to 850
0C, and finally
keeping the sample at 850°C for 2 h.
The final samples were labeled AC-Xy, where X indicates the acid used in the
preparation of polymer solution (N= nitric acid or C= hydrochloric acid) and y
stands for the acid used for dissolution of aluminium isopropoxide (n= nitric
acid, c= hydrochloric acid or a= acetic acid). The amounts of acids used are
listed in Table 1.
Measurements. Nitrogen adsorption isotherms were measured at -1960C using
an ASAP 2010 volumetric analyzer (Micromeritics, Norcross, GA, USA). Prior
adsorption measurements all samples were outgassed at 200°C for at least 2 h.
The molar volume of liquid nitrogen used was 34.666 cm3/mol, and the density
was 0.808 g/cm3.
Wide angle X-ray diffraction measurements were performed on a
PANalytical X’Pert PRO MPD X-ray diffraction system using Cu Kα radiation
(40 kV, 40 mA). All patterns were recorded using 0.020 step size and 4 s per step
in the range of 150 ≤ 2θ ≥ 80
0.
Thermogravimetric analysis was made using a TA Instrument Hi-Res TGA
2950 thermogravimetric analyzer from 30 to 8000C under air flow with a heating
rate of 100C/min.
264 J. Choma, A. Żubrowska, J. Górka and M. Jaroniec
Tab. 1. Amounts of acids used at different stages of the synthesis.
F127 solution Aluminium isopropoxide Sample
HNO3 (N)
or HCl (C)
mL
HNO3 (n) or
HCl (c)
mL
Acetic acid (a)
mL
AC-Nn
AC-Ca
AC-Cca
AC*-Ca
AC*-Cca
0.8
1.1
0.74
1.1
0.74
0.3
-
0.36
-
0.36
-
2.1
0.73
2.1
0.73
Calculations. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area, SBET [25] was calculated from nitrogen adsorption isotherms in the range of relative
pressures from 0.05 to 0.2 using a cross-sectional area of 0.162 nm2 per nitrogen
molecule. The single-point pore volume, Vt [26] was estimated from the volume
adsorbed at a relative pressure of ~ 0.99.
The nanoporous carbon samples studied were also analyzed using the αs-plot
[27, 28], where αs is the standard relative adsorption defined as the amount
adsorbed at a given pressure to the amount adsorbed at a relative pressure of 0.4
for the reference adsorbent. The αs-plots for the carbonaceous materials studied
were obtained by using the nitrogen adsorption data for nongraphitized Cabot
BP280 carbon black (Cabot Co., Special Blacks Division, Billerica, MA, USA)
reported by Kruk et al. [29]. The αs-plot was constructed by plotting the amount
adsorbed for the investigated sample as a function of the relative adsorption αs
for the aforementioned reference material (Cabot BP280).
The pore size distributions (PSDs) were calculated from the adsorption
branch using the Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) method [30]. The BJH method is
based on the Kelvin equation, which correlates the capillary condensation
pressure and pore diameter. In this method we used the statistical film thickness
for the Cabot BP280 carbon black [29], which was obtained by fitting the
reference isotherm on this carbon to the multilayer range of the t-curve
established on the basis of MCM-41 materials [31].
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The thermal stability of the alumina-carbon nanocomposites studied and the
alumina content were monitored by high-resolution thermogravimetry (TG). The
Soft-templating synthesis of nanoporous carbons with… 265
TG profiles recorded in flowing air are shown in Figure 1. The results indicate
that the oxidation occurred in the temperature range 470–4900C, which is
comparable to the previously reported data [13]. This suggests that the thermal
stability of samples is not affected by alumina nanoparticles in situ generated in
the carbon matrix. The residues obtained after thermal analysis revealed ~ 4%,
7% and 11% of Al2O3 in the AC-Cca, AC-Ca and AC-Nn samples, respectively.
Temperature (oC)
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Wei
gh
t (%
)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
AC-Nn
AC-Ca
AC-Cca
Fig. 1. TG profiles for the alumina-containing carbons recorded in air.
The nitrogen adsorption isotherms measured at -1960C are shown in Figure 2
and the corresponding pore size distribution (PDS) curves for all materials
studied are presented in Figure 3. The structural parameters calculated from the
nitrogen adsorption isotherms are listed in Table 2.
As can be seen from Figure 1, all carbon materials studied exhibit type IV
adsorption-desorption isotherms according to the IUPAC classification. The
capillary condensation steps appear in the range 0.5–0.9 p/po. Among all
samples, AC-Cca exhibits the highest condensation step, which corresponds to
the largest mesopore volume (0.50 cm3/g) among all samples studied (see
Table 2).
266 J. Choma, A. Żubrowska, J. Górka and M. Jaroniec
Tab. 2. Adsorption parameters for the carbon samples studied1.
Sample SBET
m2/g
Vt
cm3/g
Vmi
cm3/g
Vme
cm3/g
wBJH
nm
AC-Nn 369 0.24 0.12 0.12 6.1
AC-Ca 668 0.61 0.16 0.44 6.9
AC-Cca 632 0.71 0.18 0.50 7.8
AC*-Ca 621 0.51 0.17 0.33 6.7
AC*-Cca 611 0.50 0.17 0.32 6.0
1Notation: SBET, BET specific surface area; Vt, single-point pore volume; Vmi, volume of
micropores obtained by αs-method; Vme, volume of mesopores obtained by αs-method;
wBJH, mesopore diameter at the maximum of PSD curve obtained by the BJH method.
Relative Pressure
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Ad
sorp
tio
n (
cm3 S
TP
g-1
)
0
100
200
300
400
AC-Nn
AC-Ca
AC-Cca
AC∗-Ca
AC∗-Cca
Fig. 2. Nitrogen adsorption isotherms for mesoporous carbons with embedded alumina
nanoparticles.
The micropore and mesopore volumes (Vmi and Vme) were evaluated using the
αs-plots shown in Figure 4. Namely, the micropore volume Vmi was calculated in
the range of αs from 0.8 to 1.2 (dashed straight line). Analogously, the total pore
volume, which is the sum of micro- and mesopore volumes (Vmi+Vme), was
estimated in the range of αs from 2 to 7 (dotted straight line). The difference
between the total and micropore volumes (Vmi+Vme)-Vmi gave the mesopore
volume. All results are summarized in Table 2.
Soft-templating synthesis of nanoporous carbons with… 267
Pore Width (nm)
0 5 10 15 20
Pore
Siz
e D
istr
ibuti
on (
cm3 g
-1 n
m-1
)
0.00
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
AC-Nn
AC-Ca
AC-Cca
AC∗-Ca
AC∗-Cca
Fig. 3. Pore size distributions for mesoporous carbons with embedded alumina
nanoparticles.
All Al2O3 carbon composites show quite comparable micropore volumes
(~0.17 cm3/g), except AC-Nn sample, for which the micropore volume was
found to be 0.12 cm3/g. The latter sample also possesses the lowest mesopore
volume of 0.12 cm3/g, while for the rest of the samples Vme vary to reach the
maximum value of 0.50 cm3/g for AC-Cca. It is interesting that in the case of
AC-Nn nanocomposite the total pore volume is equally contributed by micro-
and mesopores. The BET surface area (SBET) changes from 369 m2/g to 668 m
2/g
(AC-Nn and AC-Ca, respectively). As can be seen from Figure 3 showing PSDs,
the peak maxima corresponding to the mesopore diameter were found to be
~6–7 nm. However, in the case of AC-Cca, the peak attributed to mesopores is
much broader with the maximum shifted towards larger pore widths suggesting
the presence of larger mesopores. As it was mentioned above, all alumina-carbon
samples possess some microporosity which is clearly seen in Figure 3 in the
form of high and sharp peaks centered at ~1.5 nm. This microporosity can be
enhanced by additional activation as reported in [32].
In general, all carbon materials with incorporated alumina nanoparticles
exhibit mixed micro-mesoporous structure which makes them promising for
catalysis due to better mass transfer of reagents to Al2O3 nanoparticles.
The powder XRD technique was employed to examine the presence of
crystalline alumina phase in the carbons studied. The XRD pattern of Ac-Nn is
shown in Figure 5. The diffraction pattern shows (220) and (220) reflections
268 J. Choma, A. Żubrowska, J. Górka and M. Jaroniec
attributed to the cubic (Fm3m) aluminum oxide phase according to JCPDS card
number 75–0921. The average crystallite size calculated from the Scherrer
equation was found to be ~17 nm.
Standard Adsorption αs
0 1 2 3 4 5
Ad
sorp
tio
n (
cm3 S
TP
g-1
)
0
100
200
300
400
500
AC-Nn
AC-Ca
AC-Cca
AC*-Ca
AC∗-Cca
Fig. 4. αs-plot for mesoporous carbons with embedded alumina nanoparticles.
2Θ
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
* - Al2O3
*
*
Fig. 5. Wide angle XRD pattern for the alumina-containing carbon AC-Nn; non-marked
sharp peaks refer to aluminum because of using Al sample holder.
Soft-templating synthesis of nanoporous carbons with… 269
4. CONCLUSIONS
The soft-templated microporous-mesoporous carbons with in situ generated
alumina nanoparticles were successfully synthesized. The samples prepared with
nitric acid as a catalyst exhibited the largest loading of nanoparticles. Even
though the latter samples showed reduced adsorption in comparison to the
remaining samples, the micropores and mesopores contributed equally to the
total pore volume. This is especially important for applications in catalysis,
where the mass transfer is crucial for catalysts performance. The use of
hydrochloric and/or citric acids resulted in improved mesoporosity. Although the
soft-templating synthesis involving commercially available block copolymers,
phenol derivatives and formaldehyde, represent a relatively new approach to the
synthesis of carbon materials, it seems to be well suited for addition of various
species into carbons.
Acknowledgements. The authors would like to express their best wishes to
Professor R. Leboda on the occasion of his 65th birthday anniversary.
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CURRICULA VITAE
Jerzy Choma was born in 1952 in Lublin, Poland. He
studied chemistry at the Military Technical Academy in
Warsaw and graduated in 1978. He obtained his PhD and
ScD degrees in 1981 and 1985, respectively. He received
a professor title in 1993 and is a full professor in the
Chemistry Department of the Military Technical
Academy in Warsaw and the Institute of Chemistry of
J. Kochanowski University in Kielce. In the latter he is
the Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry. His
major scientific interests include experimental and
theoretical studies of gas adsorption on microporous and
mesoporous adsorbents, adsorption characterization of
activated carbons, ordered mesoporous silicas (OMSs) and carbons, synthesis and
modification of activated carbons and OMSs such as MCM-41, MCM-48 and SBA-15.
Currently his group is working on the soft- and hard-templating syntheses of ordered
mesoporous carbons. He authored or co-authored about 300 scientific articles, over 100
conference presentations, two books and several review articles. Since 1986 he has had a
fruitful collaboration with Professor M. Jaroniec from Kent State University, Kent, Ohio,
USA.
Soft-templating synthesis of nanoporous carbons with… 271
Anna Żubrowska was born in 1984 in Lublin, Poland. In
2008 she graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry of
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. At present,
she is a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry,
Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA. Main areas of
her scientific interests include the synthesis, modification
and characterization of ordered mesoporous materials,
especially carbons.
Joanna Górka was born in 1980 in Lublin. She obtained
MSc in Chemistry in 2004 from Maria Curie-Skłodowska
University in Lublin and is currently pursuing the Ph.D. in
Physical Chemistry at Kent State University with
Professor Mietek Jaroniec. Her research interests include
the self-assembly synthesis, characterization and
adsorption properties of ordered mesoporous carbons,
polymers, silica and organosilicas as well as properties of
block copolymers, which are used as soft templates for the
preparation of the aforementioned nanomaterials.
Mieczysław Jaroniec was born in 1949 in Okrzeja,
Poland. He studied chemistry at Maria Curie-Skłodowska
University (UMCS) in Lublin, Poland, between 1967 and
1972. After graduating with honors in 1972, he was
employed at UMCS and joined the Department of
Physical Chemistry, and in 1975, he moved to the newly
created Department of Theoretical Chemistry. He
presented his PhD dissertation prepared under the
supervision of Professor W. Rudzinski in 1976. In 1985
and 1989 he received both professor titles. In 1991 he
moved to Kent State University, Ohio, where has been
employed as a professor since then.
272 J. Choma, A. Żubrowska, J. Górka and M. Jaroniec
Professor Jaroniec has had several visiting appointments, including Georgetown
University, USA (1984-85), McMaster University, Canada (1985-86), Kent State
University, USA (1987, 1988-89), and Chiba University, Japan (1997). He has published
over 850 papers in the area of adsorption, chromatography, thermal analysis, nanoporous
materials, and self-assembled ordered mesoporous materials, and has been a co-chairman
of four international symposia on nanoporous materials held in Canada in 2000, 2002,
2005 and 2008. In addition, he has co-edited three volumes of Nanoporous Materials,
published in the Elsevier series of Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis. The fourth
volume of “Nanoporous Materials” has been published by World Sci. Publishers in 2008.
Also, he co-edited a special issue of Chemistry Materials devoted to templated materials
(Feb 2008), edited a special volume of the Journal of Liquid Chromatography (1996),
dedicated to the synthesis, characterization, and application of chemically bonded phases,
and co-authored a book Physical Adsorption on Heterogeneous Solids, published by
Elsevier in 1988. Professor Jaroniec has served and is currently serving on the editorial
boards of Adsorption, Adsorption Science & Technology, Chemistry Materials, Journal
of Liquid Chromatography, Journal of Porous Materials, Dekker Encyclopedia of
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Journal of Colloid and Interfacial Science, Thin Solid
Films, and Heterogeneous Chemistry Reviews. Among the numerous awards he has
received, he cherishes especially an Honorary Professor title of M. Curie-Skłodowska
University, Poland (2005), doctor honoris causa from Copernicus University, Poland
(2009) and a Distinguished Scholar Award from Kent State University (2002).
Research interests and activities of Professor Jaroniec revolve primarily around
interdisciplinary topics of interfacial chemistry, chemical separations, and chemistry of
materials, especially physical adsorption at the gas/solid and liquid/solid interfaces, gas
and liquid chromatography, synthesis, modification, and characterization of adsorbents,
chromatographic packings, catalysts, and most recently, ordered nanoporous materials.
During his employment at Kent State University, he has established a vigorous research
program in the area of advanced nanomaterials, such as surfactant- and polymer-
templated ordered mesoporous silicas, organosilicas, and carbons.
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