A facile approach to simultaneous fabrication of microsize hollow and solid carbon spheres from acetylene directly

Abstract

Simultaneous production of microsize hollow and solid carbon spheres has been successfully achieved via non-catalytic chemical vapor deposition of acetylene under mild conditions, of which the unique feature is that the as-made ball-like carbons can be collected separately as two individual products. The parameters such as the reaction temperature, the flow rate and the composition of the carrier gas especially H2 are found to be critical for the selective synthesis of microsize hollow and solid carbon spheres. A possible growth model for these ball-like carbon products is proposed and discussed in terms of the process parameters.