Preparation of microporous carbon±ceramic cellular monoliths T. Vald es-Sol õs, G. Marb an, A.B. Fuertes * Instituto Nacional del Carb on C.S.I.C.), La Corredoria, s/n. Apartado 73, 33080-Oviedo, Spain Received 9 June 2000; received in revised form 27 November 2000; accepted 28 November 2000 Abstract Carbon±ceramic cellular monoliths were prepared by coating a ceramic cellular monolith with a polymeric solution carbon precursor). Phenolic resol and novolac) or furanic resins, and polysaccharides sucrose and dextrose) were used as carbon precursors. The following procedure was adopted: a) substrate impregnation with a polymeric solution, b) curing or drying, c) carbonisation 700±1000°C, N 2 ), and d) physical H 2 O, 700°C) or chemical ZnCl 2 ) activation. In optimal conditions e.g. phenolic novolac, 64 wt.%; two impregnation±curing±carbonisation cycles) the material obtained exhibited a high carbon percentage 14 wt.%) with a micropore volume and a speci®c surface area relative to the mass of deposited carbon) of 0.32 cm 3 g 1 and 427 m 2 g 1 , respectively. By physical activation burno: 20 wt.%) the micropore volume increased to 0.44 cm 3 g 1 and the speci®c surface area to 1450 m 2 g 1 . By means of chemical acti- vation, a high carbon load 13 wt.%) was obtained in a single step, with a micropore volume of 0.36 cm 3 g 1 and a speci®c surface area of 791 m 2 g 1 . The activated material shows a uniform carbon distribution, good adsorption properties, good electrical conductivity 1.15 X 1 cm 1 ) and a high mechanical strength 16 MPa). Ó 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Microporous carbon; Carbon±ceramics; Monoliths; Activated carbon; Polymers 1. Introduction Ceramic cellular monoliths are widely used as catalytic carriers in the SCR systems selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxides) of power plants and in automotive catalytic converters. This material shows a high mechanical strength, a low- pressure drop, thermal stability and a relatively uniform porosity. In spite of these advantages, the use of this material is limited due to its non-ad- justable super®cial characteristics i.e., porosity, super®cial chemistry, etc.). Furthermore, as the textural properties and chemical characteristics of carbonaceous materials can easily be tailored, they are highly ¯exible. They are also stable in basic and acid media. Hence, these materials have a wide range of applications in many areas such as pollutant removal active carbon), gas separation molecular sieves) or chemical reaction catalysts and catalyst supports). At the same time they have a low mechanical strength i.e. mechanical and abrasion) that limits their application in many areas. The preparation of carbon±ceramic compos- ite materials makes it possible to obtain a func- tional material, that combines the properties of ceramic materials i.e., high mechanical strength, cellular structures, etc.) with those of Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 43 2001) 113±126 www.elsevier.nl/locate/micromeso * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-985-280-800; fax: +34- 985-297-662. E-mail address: abefu@incar.csic.es A.B. Fuertes). 1387-1811/01/$ - see front matter Ó 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S1387-181100)00354-1