Salt-separated strategy for construction of hollow carbon nanospheres with tunable size based on α-cyclodextrin

Abstract

Hollow carbon nanospheres (HCNs) have attracted much attention in the field of science and technology for their excellent properties; however, developing a versatile synthesis strategy for the preparation of HCNs remains a great challenge. The successful manipulation of size and shell thickness of HCNs is essential to meet their structural varieties and practical applications. Herein, HCNs were prepared directly from the renewable α-Cyclodextrin (α-CD) by a novel and simple salt-separated strategy with direct carbonization method is reported. The synthesis differs from the traditional template method in that it is characterized by the introduction of salt for separation and protection, the carbonization does not require the passage of protective gas, and the salt can be recycled. Thus, this method is very cost-effective and environmentally benign. In addition, the HCNs size in this system can be adjusted on demand by simply adjusting the concentration of α-CD, thus realizing that the HCNs size is adjustable in the range of 90–700 nm and adjustable shell thickness in the range of 20–250 nm. This work provides a new insight into the preparation of high-performance carbon materials in an environmentally friendly manner.