We demonstrate, for the first time, the application of ordered mesoporous carbons with large pore sizes prepared from the surfactant-templating approach in efficient disposal of wastewater containing bulky dye molecules. The adsorption amount for the bulky dye (methylthionine chloride, fuchsin basic, rhodamine B, brilliant yellow, methyl orange, or Sudan G) is almost twice that of the activated carbon in which mesopores contribute almost 100% to the total surface area and volume. The ordered mesoporous carbon adsorbent has a high adsorption rate (>99.9%) for low-concentration dyes, good performance in decoloration regardless of the dye nature, including basic, acidic, or azo dyes, and high stability after dye elution. To establish the relationship between the pore texture and adsorption properties, three kinds of ordered mesoporous carbons with different pore sizes, surface areas, and pore volumes have been synthesized by using phenolic resins as carbon sources and triblock copolymer as a structure-directing agent. The XRD, TEM, and N 2 sorption measurements reveal that all mesoporous carbonaceous materials have the highly ordered 2D hexagonal mesostructure, high surface areas (398-2580 m 2 /g), large pore volumes (0.51-2.16 cm 3 /g), and uniform pore sizes ranging from 4.5 to 6.4 nm. The adsorption capacities are compared and the pore occupation is estimated to understand the adsorption behaviors in the ordered mesopores with different diameters and models. The spatial effect of dye molecules is the determinative factor for the adsorption in ordered mesoporous carbons with various pore textural properties. The mesoporous carbon with an extremely high surface area (2580 m 2 /g), a large pore volume (2.16 cm 3 /g), and bimodal pores (6.4 and 1.7 nm) prepared from the silica-carbon composite shows the highest adsorption capacities for bulky basic dyes among the three ordered mesoporous carbons.

Hybrid mesoporous periodic organosilicas (Ph-PMOs) with phenylene moieties embedded inside the silica matrix were used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the Ullmann coupling reaction in water. XRD, N2 sorption, TEM, and solid-state NMR spectroscopy reveal that mesoporous Ph-PMO supports and Pd/Ph-PMO catalysts have highly ordered 2D hexagonal mesostructures and covalently bonded organic-inorganic (all Si atoms bonded with carbon) hybrid frameworks. In the Ullmann coupling reaction of iodobenzene in water, the yield of biphenyl was 94%, 34%, 74% and for palladium-supported Ph-PMO, pure silica (MCM-41), and phenyl-group-modified Ph-MCM-41 catalysts, respectively. The selectivity toward biphenyl reached 91% for the coupling of boromobenzene on the Pd/Ph-PMO catalyst. This value is much higher than that for Pd/Ph-MCM-41 (19%) and Pd/MCM-41 (0%), although the conversion of bromobenzene for these two catalysts is similar to that for Pd/Ph-PMO. The large difference in selectivity can be attributed to surface hydrophobicity, which was evaluated by the adsorption isotherms of water and toluene. Ph-PMO has the most hydrophobic surface, and in turn selectively adsorbs the reactant haloaryls from aqueous solution. Water transfer inside the mesochannels is thus restricted, and the coupling reaction of bromobenzene is improved.

N-doped highly ordered mesoporous carbons are synthesized via a one-step organic-organic evaporation induced self-assembly method by using phenol, formaldehyde and m-aminophenol as carbon and nitrogen sources and triblock copolymer as a structure-directing agent. The frameworks are constituted by polymer and carbon upon calcination at 350 degrees C and 900 degrees C, respectively, and N incorporates into the frameworks (0.2-1.6% in molar ratio). N-doped mesoporous carbons have high surface areas (approximately 1200 m2/g) and large pore volumes (approximately 0.65 cm3/g). Various mesostructures (p6mm and Im3m) can be obtained by simply tuning the ratio of phenol to triblock copolymer in the synthesis. With the increase of the initial amount of m-aminophenol, the graphitizing degree of mesoporous carbon increases.

Ordered mesoporous Al2O3-SiO2-carbon nanocomposites have been synthesized via the direct triblock-copolymer self-assembly route using soluble phenolic resols as polymer precursors, aluminium chloride hexahydrate as an aluminum precursor, tetraethoxysilane as a silica precursor, and Pluronic F127 as a template. Characterization of XRD, N2 sorption isotherms, TEM, solid-state NMR, TG, and NH3-TPD techniques is used to investigate the mesostructure, pore properties, phase composition, metal incorporation state, and acidic properties. Ordered mesoporous nanocomposites have "reinforced concrete"-structured frameworks, in which the oxide and carbon components are microphase separated and homogenously dispersed inside pore walls. Al species are tetrahedrally incorporated into silica frameworks to compose the inorganic oxide compounds which provides acidic center. The nanocomposites have the ordered 2-D hexagonal mesostructure, high surface areas (291-360 m2/g), large pore volumes (0.25-0.42 cm3/g), large pore diameters (- 5 nm) and accessible acidic sites.