A series of triblock copolymers consisting of vinylidene chloride polymer and polystyrene (PS) blocks (PS-b-PVDC-b-PS) were prepared via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) living radical polymerization

and were further heat-treated to obtain hierarchical porous carbons with micro-and meso-pores directly. The structures of triblock copolymers were characterized with GPC and NMR

and the result demonstrated that the prepared PS-b-PVDC-b-PS exhibited number average molecular weight greater than 6000 and narrow molecular weight distributions (PDI<1.5). The thermogravimetric analysis of triblock copolymers showed two weigh loss peaks

corresponding to thermal degradation of PS and PVDC blocks

respectively. The morphology and pore structure of the resulted porous carbons were characterized with SEM and N2 absoprtion analysis. PVDC block acted as a good kind of carbon precursor capable of forming micro-pores

and the micro-dispersed PS block acted as a meso-pore extender to generate meso-pores. Carbon yields decreased and average pore diameters increased as the content of PS in triblock copolymers increased. The greatest Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area (839 m2·g-1)

mesoporsity degree (54%) and average pore size (2.02 nm) were achieved as triblock copolymer with PS/PVDC molar ratio of 4.3 was used as precursor.