Very High Surface Area Microporous Carbon with a Three-Dimensional Nano-Array Structure: Synthesis and Its Molecular Structure

By using zeolite Y as a template, a novel microporous carbon with a three-dimensional nano-array structure was prepared. The arrangement and periodicity of this array are identical to those of supercages in zeolite Y crystal. The carbon has a surprisingly high BET surface area (3600 m2/g) with almost no mesoporosity. This carbon may be comprised of very curved graphene sheets whose faceting and curvature are accommodated to the curved inner surface of the zeolite nanochannels.