Hollow Carbon Sphere with Tunable Structure by Encapsulation Pyrolysis Synchronous Deposition for Cefalexin Adsorption

Abstract

Hollow carbon spheres (HCS) with controllable diameter and shell thickness using a simple encapsulation pyrolysis synchronous deposition method is reported. This method changed the polystyrene spheres (PS), a widely used sacrifice hard template, into carbon by a pyrolysis and synchronous deposition process in the hermetical silica shell, without any cross-linking agent and catalyst, simplifying synthesis, and lowering costs. The obtained HCS exhibited uniform spherical morphology with tailorable particle size (190-1600 nm) and well controlled hollow voids. Moreover, HCS samples with precisely tuned thickness (4.5-13.5 nm) were obtained only by changing the silica precursor amount. The resultant HCS showed promising potential for applications in cefalexin adsorption with capacity of 291 mg•g-1. Therefore, this synthetic strategy may offer an efficient production route to commercial applications for HCS.