Soft-templated synthesis of mesoporous carbon nanospheres and hollow carbon nanofibers

Using coal tar pitch based amphiphilic carbonaceous materials (ACMs) as the precursor and amphiphilic triblock copolymer Plutonic P123 as the only soft template, carbon nanospheres with partially ordered mesopores and hollow carbon nanofibers were synthesized. The concentration of P123, cp, and the mass ratio of P123 to ACM, r, are the key parameters of controlling the shape of the as-prepared products. Mesoporous carbon nanospheres with diameter of 30–150 nm were prepared under the condition of cp = 13.3 g/L and r = 1.2. When cp = 26.7 g/L and r = 2, hollow carbon nanofibers with diameters of 50–200 nm and mesopores/macropores were obtained. Carbon nanospheres and hollow carbon fibers were amorphous materials. The mesoporous carbon nanospheres show good stability in the cyclic voltammograms and their specific capacitance at 10 mV s−1 is 172.1 F/g.