Controlled synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbohydrate-derived carbons with flower-like structure and N-doping by self-transformation

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of carbohydrates is an economic and sustainable technique for the synthesis of carbon materials. However, the assembly of carbohydrates with soft templates is susceptible to hydrolysis, degradation, and relatively high HTC temperature. Thus, it is still challenging to control the HTC/soft templating of carbohydrates and prepare mesoporous carbon with specific properties. Herein, a simple and effective self-transformation strategy is proposed to improve the HTC/soft templating, which introduces an insoluble melamine sulfate into the formation processes. Mechanism studies indicate that the assembly of d-fructose with soft templates is greatly promoted by coassembling with the gradually released melamine sulfate. As a result, carbonaceous composites with a flower-like structure and N-doping were synthesized. Further, ordered mesoporous carbons with N-doping are obtained after calcination. The obtained carbons exhibit outstanding ability for heavy metal adsorption and supercapacitors. Significantly, this self-transformation strategy will open up new avenues for synthesizing carbohydrate-based functional carbons.