Hollow Graphitic Carbon Nanospheres Synthesized by Rapid Pyrolytic Carbonization

Abstract

Hollow graphitic porous carbon nanosphere (CNS) materials are synthesized from polymerization of resorcinol (R) and formaldehyde (F) in the presence of templating iron polymeric complex (IPC), followed by carbonization treatment. The effect of rapid heating in the carbonization process is investigated for the formation of hollow graphitic carbon nanospheres. The resulting CNS from rapid heating was characterized for its structure and properties by transmission electron microscope (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, bulk conductivity measurement and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area. Hollow graphitic CNS with reduced degree of agglomeration is observed under rapid heating during the carbonization process when compared to the CNS synthesized using the standard slow heating approach. Key words: carbon nanosphere (CNS), rapid pyrolytic carbonization, agglomeration