Carbon spheres possess a tunable structure, which creates a broad range of applications varying from drug delivery, gas capture to supercapacitance. Current industrial production of porous graphitic carbons is limited due to several drawbacks. Conventional graphitization requires heating of carbon materials beyond 1500 °C. Mesopores within carbons are often created using silica templates, which usually requires removal of silica with hydrofluoric acid or sodium hydroxide solutions. Activation (creation of micropores) requires an additional heating step after mixing with potassium hydroxide or other activating agents, which often results in low carbon yield and structure deterioration. The main objective of this project is to condense the aforementioned multistep synthesis into a single step in which mesopores, graphitic domains and micropores are introduced to carbon spheres by carbonization of soft-templated polymer spheres, catalytic graphitization and in-situ activation. The final product, a multifunctional carbon material, possesses favorable properties toward multiple applications such as gas capture, dye adsorption and capacitance.

Feasible synthesis of high surface area, porous and magnetic graphitic carbon spheres

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.