In recent times a lot of attention was focued on nanoporous spherical carbon structures because of their unique properties [1]. Their exhibit thermal and chemical resistance, easy preparation, tunable pore structures and relative low cost. These advantages make them attractive for various applications in the fields of environmental protection (industrial capture of carbon dioxide), catalysis and energy storage [2].

In this work we have shown an effective recipe for preparation of monodisperse carbon spheres with diameters in the range 100-1000 nm and extended micropore structure. Synthesis of carbon spheres was based on the ammonia-catalyzed polymerization of resorcinol and formaldehyde in the ethanol-water phase [3]. The polymerization products upon subsequent heat-treatment for improving cross-linking of polymers and carbonization yielded carbon spheres. The KOH-activation process was performed in order to enhance microporosity carbon spheres. The obtained materials morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscope (ULTRA ZEISS, Germany). Adsorption properties were determined based on low-temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The calculated value of the specific surface area was larger than 2500 m2/g and total pore volume was ca. 1,1 cm3/g. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) adsorpton isoterms were obtained at 0^oC on ASAP 2020 system. The obtianed carbon spheres exhibited very high CO₂  uptake of 7,5 mmol/g.   The interesting properties of fabricated micro-porous carbon spheres make them potentially useful in many practical applications.     

Literature:

[1] J. Tascon Novel Carbon Adsorbents, Elsevier, 2012

[2] N. P. Wickramaratne, M. Jaroniec, Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2013, 1849-1855

[3] J. Liu, S. Z. Qiao, H. Liu, J. Chen, A. Orpe, D. Zhao, Q. G. Liu, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2011, 50, 5947

Acknowledgements 

This project has been funded with support from the National Science Centre  - grant no. DEC-2011/03/N/ST5/04444.

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