Structural study of functional hierarchical porous carbon synthesized from metal-organic framework template

In this work, nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NPC) was obtained from an effective and facile synthesis route based on metal-organic framework (MOF)-drive approach using Zr-metal-organic framework (UiO-66-NH2) as a template. The structural analysis of synthesized NPC using different heat treatment was performed through X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm at 77K characterization. The results achieved indicate that Zr-MOF is an appropriate starting precursor to attain functional carbon materials with remarkable physicochemical properties for potential advanced applications. Thereby, it was evidenced that the NPC synthesis temperature has an influence on resulting structural properties as well as nitrogen functionalities and amount. Thereby, the obtained NPC exhibits a disorder porous structure with high BET surface area (765–867 m2/g), pore size from microporous to mesoporous, and 3–4% of N content. Related to nitrogen functionalities, the heteroatom corresponds to quaternary, pyrrolic, and pyridinic bonding, indicating that it was successfully incorporated into the carbon framework.