Facile synthesis of hollow carbon nanospheres from hollow chitosan nanospheres

Hollow carbon nanospheres (HCNS) with large surface area were synthesized from hollow chitosan nanospheres by one-step pyrolysis with a relatively low temperature (550 degrees C). The resulted HCNS is fully carbonized and partially graphitized under the experiment conditions. It is an important and facile method to prepare the uniform, shape- and size-controlled carbon nanomaterials by carbonization of the natural polysaccharide compounds and their derivatives. The as-prepared HCNS has a narrow size distribution in hollow carbon nanospheres (about 53 nm). The structure and size of HCNS are reproducible and could be tunable by changing the preparation conditions. The characterizations to estimate the composition, decompose properties, crystalline form, structure and surface property of the HCNS were investigated using FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction measurement (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis, and the N2 adsorption-desorption isothermal process. The present preparation method makes it feasible to synthesize carbon nanospheres in abundance in the lab, and the synthesized HCNS could be a promising support for metal catalysts, an ideal matrix connecting with DNA or other bioactive substances.