Direct synthesis of mesoporous carbon from the carbonization of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin/silica composite and its catalytic performance

A simple and efficient route is reported for the synthesis of mesoporous carbon materials by directly carbonizing hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin-silica composites. The resulting carbon materials, with uniform wormlike mesoporous structure and certain degree graphitic phase characteristics in porous wall, possess narrow pore size distribution, high surface area (>1000 m2 g−1) and pore volume (>1.2 cm3 g−1). It is worth mentioning that the carbon materials have high catalytic activity for the reduction of p-nitrotoluene using hydrazine hydrate as the reducing agent; moreover, the catalytic activity is not reduced notably after being reused for six times.