Synthesis of hollow carbon nanostructures using a ZnO template method

A ZnO template approach for the large scale synthesis of hollow carbon nanostructures was developed. A diluted ethyl benzene stream was used to form a carbon layer on the template at a high temperature and a dilute HCl solution was used to etch the template. Hollow carbon nanotubes and hollow carbon nanospheres were fabricated using ZnO nanorods and nanospheres as the respective templates. The present process is simple, efficient and low cost, and may be extended to fabricate other hollow carbon nanostructures used in catalytic reactions and energy storage.