Electrical Properties of Porous Carbon Powders Synthesized by Nanocasting of Aniline in Mesoporous Silica

Abstract

The use of aniline as carbon source has two advantages for the synthesis of carbon materials exhibiting conducting properties: the aromatic ring contributes to the graphitic character and the presence of nitrogen could work as n-dopant, decreasing the band gap of the carbon materials. These conditions contribute to improve their efficiency as electrocatalysts, for example in fuel cells. The objective of this work is to correlate physicochemical characteristics and electrical behavior of carbon samples prepared by nanocasting of aniline in mesoporous silica and its subsequent carbonization under controlled conditions.