Hyper-Cross-Linking Mediated Self-Assembly Strategy To Synthesize Hollow Microporous Organic Nanospheres

Hollow microporous organic nanospheres (H-MONs) are prepared by using polylactide-b-polystyrene diblock copolymers (PLA-b-PS) as the precursor via a hyper-cross-linking mediated self-assembly strategy, in which the hyper-cross-linking PS block forms the microporous organic shell framework, and the degradable PLA block produces the hollow mesoporous core structure. The formation mechanism, morphology, and porosity parameters of the resulting H-MONs are systematically investigated. Moreover, based on the hyper-cross-linking generated rigid microporous organic frameworks, hollow microporous carbon nanospheres (H-MCNs) can be achieved by further pyrolysis progress. The obtained H-MCNs as electrode materials of a supercapacitor exhibit excellent electrochemical performance with specific capacitances of up to 145 F g^-1 at 0.2 A g^-1, with almost no capacitance loss even after 5000 cycles at 10 A g^-1. More especially, H-MONs can be further act as "nanoreactors" for the synthesis of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles within hollow cores to construct magnetic core-shell Fe₃O₄@H-MONs nanocomposite materials. Our strategy represents a new avenue for the preparation of hollow morphology-controlled microporous organic polymers with various potential applications.