Utilization of Plastic Wastes for Synthesis of Carbon Microspheres and Their Use as a Template for Nanocrystalline Copper(II) Oxide Hollow Spheres

Abstract

The metal- and solvent-free single-step approach for the synthesis of carbon microspheres using various municipal plastic wastes at 700 °C under autogenic pressure is reported. The obtained carbon spheres have been characterized with different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The microscopic analysis showed formation of carbon microspheres having diameters of 1–8 μm. Among the different types of plastic wastes studied, only polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyacrylate could be converted into carbon spheres with 100% purity, whereas carbon particles with irregular shapes were also observed in the cases of other plastic wastes. The absence of catalyst makes the carbon spheres free from metal impurities and avoids the further purification process. The synthesis of carbon spheres from plastic wastes proceeds with the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons. The nanocrystalline CuO hollow spheres with a wall thickness of ∼130 nm have been prepared using plastic waste-derived carbon spheres as the template material under ultrasonic treatment.

Micro/nano-scaled carbon spheres based on hydrothermal carbonization of agarose

“…Mostly, these methods utilized some chemical reagents as carbon sources and metals as catalysts or reducing agents. Environmental issues could thus be raised since the metal catalysts would be converted into their respective metal salts during synthesis and post-synthesis treatment [13].…”

Adsorption Performance of Hollow Spherical Sludge Carbon Prepared from Sewage Sludge and Polystyrene Foam Wastes

“…18 Among them, polystyrene (PS) latex sphere has been widely used as a hard template due to the well-defined and tunable particle size, and readily availability. With this approach, the hollow-core diameter can be easily adjusted by selecting different sized latexes, while the shell thickness can be tuned by varying the ratio of shell precursor-to-latex.…”

Breakthrough adsorption studies of mixed gases on mango (Mangifera indicaL.) seed shell derived activated carbon extrudes

“…The fact of the matter is, 17 greenhouse effect is not detrimental for us or the environment, but 18 it is harmful only when it is more than the desirable amounts. 19 Whereas, the global warming describes average rise in tempera- 20 ture of earth's surface over the period of time. It is a cumulative 21 effect of many factors such as deforestation, pollution, burning of 22 fossil fuels, industrialization or modernization of developing 23 countries and life style of citizens of such countries and 24 greenhouse gases.…”

“…For the 54 development of activated carbon umpteen numbers of sources are 55 available, e.g. industrial wastes [18], synthetic chemicals [19], 56 plastics [20] and carbides [21]. High quality of carbon cannot be 57 achieved simply by tailoring the synthetic protocols and post 58 modification, sources of carbon also contributes significantly due 59 to their inbuilt characters/quality.…”