From Hollow to Solid Carbon Spheres: Time-Dependent Facile Synthesis
Wojciech Kukułka,
Karolina Wenelska,
Martyna Baca,
Xuecheng Chen,
Ewa Mijowska
Affiliations
Wojciech Kukułka
Nanomaterials Physicochemistry Department, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Piastow Av. 45, 70311 Szczecin, Poland
Karolina Wenelska
Nanomaterials Physicochemistry Department, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Piastow Av. 45, 70311 Szczecin, Poland
Martyna Baca
Nanomaterials Physicochemistry Department, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Piastow Av. 45, 70311 Szczecin, Poland
Xuecheng Chen
Nanomaterials Physicochemistry Department, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Piastow Av. 45, 70311 Szczecin, Poland
Ewa Mijowska
Nanomaterials Physicochemistry Department, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Piastow Av. 45, 70311 Szczecin, Poland
Here, we report a facile route for obtaining carbon spheres with fully tunable shell thickness. Using a hard template in chemical vapor deposition (CVD), hollow carbon spheres, solid carbon spheres, and intermediate structures can be obtained with optimized process time. The resulting carbon spheres with particle diameters of ~400 nm, as well as a controllable shell thickness from 0 to 70 nm, had high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area (up to 344.8 m2·g−1) and pore volume (up to 0.248 cm3·g−1). The sphere formation mechanism is also proposed. This simple and reproducible technique can deliver carbon materials for various applications, e.g., energy storage and conversion, adsorption, catalytic, biomedical, and environmental applications.
