Patent ID: 7048902

Claim:
A method for producing a porous carbon article comprising the steps of: selecting powders of at least one carbide of an element selected from the group consisting of Group III, IV, V and VI of Mendeleyv's Periodic System, the at least one carbide having physical and chemical constants to obtain a porous carbon article having a desired nanoporosity by calculating using the relationship: X=Z *(1 −R )/ R where X=specified size of desired nanopores and X≦10 nm; Z =0.65–0.75 nm; R=νM c =ρ k /M k ρ c where M c —molecular mass of carbon, g/mole; M k —molecular mass of the selected carbide, g/mole; ρ k —density of the selected carbide, g/ccm; ρ c —density of carbon, g/ccm; ν—number of carbon atoms in carbide molecule; forming an intermediate body with transport pores having a size larger than 100 nm by shaping the selected powders; heat treating the intermediate body in a medium of gaseous hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon mixtures at a temperature exceeding the decomposition temperature for the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons until the mass of the intermediate body has increased at least 3% thereby producing a work piece in the form of a rigid carbonaceous skeleton; and thereafter thermochemically treating the work piece in a medium of a gaseous halogen to produce the porous carbon article having nanopores of a size X.