Construction of carbon nanospheres: A rational design based on BS-12 @ LiCl

Abstract

Nanocarbons have potential applications in almost all areas of materials science. While we have appreciated the various discoveries and applications of many nanocarbons, we recognize that the field remains challenging in terms of tunability. In this research, we report a new strategy for the self-assembly of surfactant @ salt from the concept of carbon nanostructure design, and introduce the concept of “separator”. On the one hand, it allows the core and shell to be formed in one step. On the other hand, it allows the ordered aggregates to remain in their original shape under thermal action. The surface morphology, degree of graphitization, elemental composition and surface chemical state, formation mechanism, and specific luminescent properties of carbon nanomaterials were investigated. TEM reveals that (dodecyldimethyl betaine) BS-12 @ LiCl carbon nanospheres with tunable size (from 55 nm to 70 nm) can be successfully synthesized. Raman and XRD show that the structure of carbon nanospheres has some defects and disordered carbon. XPS and FTIR analyses indicate that the defects present in the carbon nanosphere structure are related to the N and O elements. The detailed growth mechanism shows that the micelle structure in the system can be well adjusted by changing the concentration of surfactant. PL research demonstrates that the synthesized carbon nanospheres have UV luminescent properties. Most importantly, the method can be further developed into a general strategy for self-assembly using a variety of surfactants and “separators” as promising candidates for future practical applications of nanocarbon materials.

Keywords

• Carbon nanosphere
• Self-assembly
• Separator
• Tunableness