title: Easy synthesis of hierarchical carbon spheres with superior capacitive performance in supercapacitors.
abstract: An easy template-free approach to the fabrication of pure carbon microspheres has been achieved via direct pyrolysis of as-prepared polyaromatic hydrocarbons including polynaphthalene and polypyrene. The polyaromatics were synthesized from aromatic hydrocarbons (AHCs) using anhydrous zinc chloride as the Friedel-Crafts catalyst and chloromethyl methyl ether as a cross-linker. The experimental results show that the methylene bridges between phenyl rings generate a hierarchical porous polyaromatic precursor to form three-dimensionally (3D) interconnected micro-, meso-, and macroporous networks during carbonization. These hierarchical porous carbon aggregates of spherical carbon spheres exhibit faster ion transport/diffusion behavior and increased surface area usage in electric double-layer capacitors. Furthermore, micropores are present in the 3D interconnected network inside the cross-linked AHC-based carbon microspheres, thus imparting an exceptionally large, electrochemically accessible surface area for charge accumulation.
authors.affiliation: The WCU Center for Synthetic Polymer Bioconjugate Hybrid Materials, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Pusan National University , Pusan 609-735, South Korea.
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Seok
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min Seon
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.forename: Ji Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hongsuk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Il
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D008863:Microspheres; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010316:Particle Size; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D002244:Carbon