Investigation of hydrothermal process time on the size of carbon micro- and nano-spheres

Subject Areas : Journal of Optoelectronical Nanostructures

Khadijeh Hemmati Kahradeh ¹ (Department of Physics, Faculty of Basic Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.)
Esmaiel Saievar-Iranizad ² (Department of Physics, Faculty of Basic Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.)
Amir Bayat ³ (Department of Physics, Faculty of Basic Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.)

Received: 2016-12-09 Accepted : 2017-01-25 Published : 2017-05-01

Keywords: Carbon microspheres, Carbon nanospheres, Hydrothermal process,

Abstract :

In this study, carbon nano-micro spheres with tightly controllable size, regular
and perfect shape, high yields and narrow size distribution were prepared simply from
glucose and DI water as precursors using a hydrothermal method. By setting the initial
concentration of glucose solution and changing the hydrothermal process time at a
constant temperature of 160 °C, carbon spheres with various sizes were synthesized in a
sealed autoclave. The relationship between the average carbon sphere size and
hydrothermal process time has been discussed. By increasing the hydrothermal process time
at a constant temperature (160 ° C) and a constant concentration of glucose solution (0.75 molar),
carbon nano-micro spheres were obtained. The diameters of carbon nano-micro spheres
synthesized in this study ranged from 90 nm to 4.5 μm. The obtained carbon nano-micro
spheres were analyzed by different techniques including scanning electron microscopy
(SEM), X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and
Raman analysis. In addition, the existence of surface functional groups on carbon
nano/micro spheres was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)
measurements.

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