Ordered mesoporous carbons with high porosities and graphitized structures were synthesized by a template-catalysis method using low-molecular-weight phenolic resin as carbon precursor and Fe-coated SBA-15 as both template and catalyst. The synthesis route involves the following steps: (a) the synthesis of mesoporous Fe-coated SBA-15 through a one-pot method, (b) the infiltration of a low-molecular-weight phenolic resin into the porosity of the Fe-coated SBA-15, (c) the carbonization and catalytic graphitization of the infiltrated phenolic resin at 900 degrees C, and (d) the removal of the Fe-coated SBA-15 template. The X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the materials, and the results indicate that the prepared carbon materials have well-ordered mesoporous structures replicated from the templates, and graphitized structures can be observed on the carbon frameworks, depending on the iron content in the templates. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.