When High‐Temperature Cesium Chemistry Meets Self‐Templating: Metal Acetates as Building Blocks of Unusual Highly Porous Carbons
Jiaxin Li, Janina Kossmann, Ke Zeng, Kun Zhang, Bingjie Wang, Christian Weinberger, Markus Antonietti, Mateusz Odziomek, Nieves López‐Salas
Abstract
Abstract Self‐templating is a facile strategy for synthesizing porous carbons by direct pyrolysis of organic metal salts. However, the method typically suffers from low yields (<4%) and limited specific surface areas (SSA<2000 m 2 g −1 ) originating from low activity of metal cations (e.g., K + or Na + ) in promoting construction and activation of carbon frameworks. Here we use cesium acetate as the only precursor of oxo‐carbons with large SSA of the order of 3000 m 2 g −1 , pore volume approaching 2 cm 3 g −1 , tunable oxygen contents, and yields of up to 15 %. We unravel the role of Cs + as an efficient promoter of framework formation, templating and etching agent, while acetates act as carbon/oxygen sources of carbonaceous frameworks. The oxo‐carbons show record‐high CO 2 uptake of 8.71 mmol g −1 and an ultimate specific capacitance of 313 F g −1 in the supercapacitor. This study helps to understand and rationally tailor the materials design by a still rare organic solid‐state chemistry.