Preparation of carbon microstructures by thermal treatment of thermosetting/thermoplastic polymers and their application in water purification

Abstract

In this Letter, a facile route to fabricate carbon materials with controllable microstructures by thermal treatment of thermosetting/thermoplastic polymers is presented. Porous carbon was prepared by carbonisation of polystyrene-poly(furfuryl alcohol) (PS–PFA) composites with PS spheres as hard template. The carbon spheres with diameter ∼2–3 µm were obtained through thermal pyrolysis of thermosetting PFA spheres, which were synthesised by polymerisation of furfuryl alcohol under sonication without surfactant. More importantly, the obtained carbon microstructures can be used as adsorbents for water purification, as illustrated by adsorption of methylene blue from contaminated water. The results show that the adsorption performance can be controlled by varying the microstructures of carbon based on thermal treatment of thermosetting/thermoplastic polymers. This Letter not only deepens the understanding of carbon microstructures derived from thermosetting/thermoplastic polymers, but also supplies novel adsorbents for water purification.