A new carbon precursor, soybean oil, was applied to the synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbon (SOMC) using an inverse replication method in conjunction with ordered mesoporous SiO2 molecular sieves (SBA-15) as a hard template. The effects of different carbonization temperatures (600, 700, and 800 degrees C) on the microstructure, degree of order of the pore structure, specific surface area, and pore size of the SOMC were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the SOMC was composed of rods approximately 1 mu m in length and 0.5 mu m in diameter. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that carbonization temperatures in the range of 600-800 degrees C produced, the SOMC samples having a suitably ordered mesoporous structure. N-2 adsorption-desorption analysis confirmed that the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area of the SOMC was 882 m(2)/g with a pore diameter of 3.5 nm after processing at 600 degrees C.