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Direct evidence of the ultramicroporous structure of carbon molecular sieves
Yoon, Y. H., O'nolan, D., Beauvais, M. L., Chapman, K. W., & Lively, R. P. (2023). Direct evidence of the ultramicroporous structure of carbon molecular sieves. Carbon, 210, Article 118002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2023.118002
We utilize gas sorption experiments, neutron pair distribution function, and small-angle X-ray scattering studies on carbon molecular sieves (CMSs) to gain new insight into their ultramicroporous structure. CMS materials derived from the pyrolysis of PIM-1 (PIM = polymer of intrinsic microporosity) under an inert atmosphere (PIM1-CMS) and H2 atmosphere (4% H2-PIM-1-CMS) were studied. Neutron total scattering studies of these materials reveal these CMS materials to be mainly graphene-like ribbons with short-range atomic ordering. Small-angle Xray scattering and low angle diffraction peaks corroborate the presence of well-defined ultramicroporosity observed in carbon dioxide and cryogenic neon adsorption studies suggesting, expectedly, that these materials are non-graphitizing carbon structures. Our findings provide microscopic evidence of the non-graphitizing and ribbon-like structure of these CMS materials and suggest a possible hypothetical microporous structure.