A facile approach to simultaneous fabrication of microsize hollow and. solid carbon spheres from acetylene directly

Simultaneous production of microsize hollow and solid carbon spheres has been successfully achieved via non-catalytic chemical vapor deposition of acetylene under mild conditions, of which the unique feature is that the as-made ball-like carbons can be collected separately as two individual products. The parameters such as the reaction temperature, the flow rate and the composition of the carrier gas especially H-2 are found to be critical for the selective synthesis of microsize hollow and solid carbon spheres. A possible growth model for these ball-like carbon products is proposed and discussed in terms of the process parameters. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.