Wrinkled Mesoporous Silica Supported Lanthanum Oxide as a Template for Porous Carbon

Wrinkled mesoporous silica (WMS) has been shown to be a promising material for catalysis and drug delivery. The WMS possesses a unique wrinkled structure with conical shaped pores radiating from the center to the surface of each particle. Lanthanum oxide was supported on wrinkled mesoporous silica as a hard template for the synthesis of graphitic carbon. The resulting carbon material retains the unique wrinkled structure and has high surface area (∼879 m²/g) as well as graphitic walls which were observed by transmission electron microscopy. The amount of La loaded onto the silica support plays a key role in the formation of the mechanically and chemically stable carbon material.