SPRAY-DRYING-ASSISTED EVAPORATION-INDUCED SELF-ASSEMBLY TOWARD MESOPOROUS CARBON HOLLOW MICROSPHERES

摘要

A facile and scalable spray-drying-assisted evaporation-induced self-assembly pathway is demonstrated for the synthesis of uniform mesoporous carbon hollow microspheres.In this method,an acidic alcoholic solution containing several molecular precursors and a tri-block copolymer is first sprayed into monodisperse liquid droplets which are then rapidly dried into hybrid microparticles.It is found that a suitable drying temperature (160 °C) and the addition of a silica precursor (tetrarthyl orthosilicate) are the key parameters to get non-sticky hybrid materials with preserved spherical shape as well as highly organised mesostructure.The hybrids are then converted into carbon microspheres with superior physicochemical properties including uniform sizes (～ 60 μm),ordered mesostructure (two-dimensional hexagonal),high surface area (～ 1900 m2/g),large porosity (～ 90 ％) and hollow interior,which make them highly promising in adsorption,separation and catalytic processes.