Hierarchical porous monoliths and methods for their preparation and use

1. A method to form a hierarchical porous monolith, the method comprising:

mixing a monomer, a silica precursor, and a catalyst in a solvent to form a mixture, wherein the silica precursor comprises tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), tetra methyl orthosilicate (TMOS), or a combination thereof, and wherein the catalyst comprises 3-aminopropyl tri-ethoxysilane (APTES), 3-aminopropyl tri-methoxysilane (APTMS), or a combination thereof;

adding a gelling agent to the mixture to form a polymer-silica composite gel, wherein the polymer-silica composite gel undergoes a phase separation to separate from the solvent and an unreacted silica precursor;

drying the polymer-silica composite gel to evaporate the solvent to form a polymer-silica monolith; and

processing the polymer-silica monolith to form at least one of a polymer monolith, a carbon monolith, a silica monolith, and a carbon-silica monolith.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein mixing the monomer comprises mixing resorcinol (C 6 H 6 O 2 ), phloroglucinol (C 6 H 6 O 3 ), acrylonitrile (C 3 H 3 N), vinyl alcohol (C 2 H 4 O), methyl methacrylate (C 5 H 8 O 2 ), or combinations of any two or more thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein adding the gelling agent comprises adding formaldehyde (CH 2 O), dimethyl sulfoxide (C 2 H 6 SO), water (H 2 O), dimethylformamide ((CH 3 ) 2 NC(O)H), or combinations of any two or more thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein mixing the monomer, the silica precursor, and the catalyst in the solvent comprises mixing the monomer, the silica precursor, and the catalyst in a solvent selected from the group consisting of dimethyl sulfoxide ((CH 3 ) 2 SO), dimethyl formamide ((CH 3 ) 2 NC(O)H), tetrahydrofuran ((CH 2 ) 4 ), acetone ((CH 3 ) 2 CO), ethanol CH 3 CH 2 OH, methanol ((CH 3 OH), water (H 2 O), or combinations of any two or more thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein drying the polymer-silica composite gel is performed at a temperature of about 4° C. to about 300° C. and for a period of about 10 hours to about 48 hours.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the polymer-silica monolith comprises pyrolyzing the polymer-silica monolith to form the carbon-silica monolith.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein pyrolyzing the polymer-silica monolith comprises:

carbonizing the polymer-silica monolith in an atmosphere of nitrogen (N 2 );

heating the polymer-silica monolith to form the carbon-silica monolith; and

cooling the carbon-silica monolith at ambient temperature.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein heating the polymer-silica monolith is performed at a temperature of about 500° C. to about 1500° C. and at a rate of about 3° C./minute to about 10° C./minute.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein processing the polymer-silica monolith further comprises etching silica from the carbon-silica monolith using an alkali hydroxide to form the carbon monolith.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein etching silica from the carbon-silica monolith using the alkali hydroxide comprises etching silica from the carbon-silica monolith using sodium hydroxide (NaOH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), hydrofluoric acid (HF), or combinations of any two or more thereof.

11. The method of claim 6 , wherein processing the polymer-silica monolith further comprises burning carbon from the carbon-silica monolith to form the silica monolith.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising embedding a plurality of metal nanoparticles in the hierarchical porous monolith.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein embedding the plurality of metal nanoparticles comprises embedding silver (Ag) nanoparticles, copper (Cu) nanoparticles, gold (Au) nanoparticles, platinum (Pt) nanoparticles, nickel (Ni) nanoparticles, cobalt (Co) nanoparticles, ferrous (Fe) nanoparticles, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), zinc oxide (ZnO), zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ), tin dioxide (SnO 2 ), tin oxide (SnO), silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), or combinations of any two or more thereof.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the polymer-silica monolith comprises etching silica from the polymer-silica monolith to form the polymer monolith.