Highly Crystalline Mesoporous C₆₀ with Ordered Pores: A Class of Nanomaterials for Energy Applications

Abstract

Abstract Highly ordered mesoporous C 60 with a well‐ordered porous structure and a high crystallinity is prepared through the nanohard templating method using a saturated solution of C 60 in 1‐chloronaphthalene (51 mg mL −1 ) as a C 60 precursor and SBA‐15 as a hard template. The high solubility of C 60 in 1‐chloronaphthalene helps not only to encapsulate a huge amount of the C 60 into the mesopores of the template but also supports the oligomerization of C 60 and the formation of crystalline walls made of C 60 . The obtained mesoporous C 60 exhibits a rod‐shaped morphology, a high specific surface area (680 m 2 g −1 ), tuneable pores, and a highly crystalline wall structure. This exciting ordered mesoporous C 60 offers high supercapacitive performance and a high selectivity to H 2 O 2 production and methanol tolerance for ORR. This simple strategy could be adopted to make a series of mesoporous fullerenes with different structures and carbon atoms as a new class of energy materials.