Preparation of high-porosity TiOxCy powders from a single templating carbon source

TiO_xC_y powders with tunable composition and high specific surface areas have been synthesized by impregnation of porous carbon black with titanium isopropoxide and firing in argon at 1400 °C. The compositional ratio of the individual ions can be controlled over a broad compositional range by tuning the stoichiometric ratio of the initial reactants. The resultant powders show no detectable oxide or carbonaceous impurity phases. The powders retain artefacts of the porosity of the templating carbon and yield specific surface areas as high as 108 m² g⁻¹, which makes them useful in catalytic/electrocatalytic applications.