Dopamine as a Carbon Source: The Controlled Synthesis of Hollow Carbon Spheres and Yolk-Structured Carbon Nanocomposites

摘要

The synthesis of hollow carbon nanospheres or capsules has attracted considerable attention because of their potential applications in catalyst supports, fuel cells, gas storage and separation, and lithium-ion batteries, which result from their unique features, such as high surface-to-volume ratio and high structural stability. Templating is the method widely used to synthesize hollow carbon spheres. Typically, a spherical core-shell structure is synthesized by coating a carbon precursor on a hard template core, followed by carbonization and core removal to obtain hollow carbon spheres. The templating approach based on the use of solid molds also provides opportunities for developing various porous carbon composite nanostructures. Among them, the rattle-type or yolk-shell nanostructure is a novel and promising nanostructure, in which a movable core is encapsulated inside a carbon shell.