The Role of Alkali Metal Exchange in Zeolite-Templated Carbon Synthesis

Despite great efforts to achieve ideal atomistic packing of carbon in the pore networks of even the largest pore zeolites, tem - plating inaccuracies are ubiquitous in all presently synthesized zeolite-templated carbon (ZTC) materials. Idealized models suggest that the long-sought schwarzite-like structures could in principle be obtained by zeolite templating if the appropriate zeolite template were chosen ( e.g. , faujasite for D surface schwarzites) and if perfect template fidelity (insertion of a pristine layer of pure carbon directly on the surface of the zeolite) could be achieved. A requirement to achieve such structures is increased carbon density within the zeolite. We report the investigation of a series of alkali metal cation-exchanged zeolites to determine how the periodic trends in the group 1 elements influence zeolite templating, with a specific focus on the metric of structural packing density (SPD) as resolved by ex situ thermogravimetry. In a survey based on controlled synthesis tempera - ture, time, and flow conditions, an increasing SPD was observed with decreasing cation size, an effect that is consistent with the increasing strength of cation-π interactions. This effect could be promising for future work to increase the SPD of ZTCs for the synthesis of closed-tube, schwarzite-like carbonaceous solids.