Formation of Monodisperse Carbon Spheres with Tunable Size via Triblock Copolymer-Assisted Synthesis and Their Capacitor Properties

• Published in: Nanoscale research letters Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 124 - 7
• Main Authors: Liang, Zhongguan, Zhang, Luomeng, Liu, Hao, Zeng, Jianping, Zhou, Jianfei, Li, Hongjian, Xia, Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 03.04.2019; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Aldehydes; Ammonia; Block copolymers; Capacitance; Capacitors; Carbon; Chemical synthesis; Chemistry and Materials Science; Electrodes; Energy storage; Energy storage and conversion; Ethanol; Fabrication; Materials Science; Molecular Medicine; Monodisperse carbon spheres; Morphology; Nano Express; Nanochemistry; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Phenols; Polymerization; Scanning electron microscopy; Spheres; Supercapacitor; Surfactant; Surfactants; Triblock Copolymer F108; Triblock Copolymer F108; Monodisperse carbon spheres; 88.80.Fh; 82.47.Uv; Energy storage and conversion; Supercapacitor; 81.05.Uw; Surfactant
• ISSN: 1931-7573; 1556-276X
• DOI: 10.1186/s11671-019-2952-8

A facile hydrothermal polymerization method has been developed for the preparation of monodisperse carbon spheres (MCSs) using the triblock copolymer F108 as surfactant. The synthesis is based on the ammonia-catalyzed polymerization reaction between phenol and formaldehyde (PF). The resultant MCSs have a perfect spherical morphology, smooth surface, and high dispersity. The particle sizes can be tuned in a wide range of 500~2400 nm by adjusting the dosage of the PF precursor. The activated MCSs with suitable heteroatoms (N and O) doped and a large specific surface area (960 m 2 g− 1 ) were obtained. A high-performance electrode of electrical double-layer capacitors fabricated by those active material have an excellent specific capacitance (310 F g −1 at 0.5 A g −1 ) and outstanding cycling stability (92% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles). This work provides a new opportunity for the fabrication of MCSs with potential applications.