title: Porous titania/carbon hybrid microspheres templated by in situ formed polystyrene colloids.
abstract: A new strategy to synthesize hierarchical, porous titania/carbon (TiO2/C) hybrid microspheres via solvothermal reaction in N,N'-dimethyl formamide (DMF) has been developed. In situ formed polystyrene (PS) colloids have been used as templating agent and carbon source, through which TiO2/PS microspheres with a diameter of ca. 1 μm are built by packed TiO2 nanoparticles of tens of nanometers. The TiO2/PS microspheres are converted to TiO2/C microspheres with different amounts of carbon under controlled calcination condition. The mechanism investigation unveils that the introduction of concentrated HCl creates surface tension between PS and DMF, leading to the formation of PS colloids in solution. The solvothermal treatment further promotes the formation of PS colloids and integration of the titania nanoparticles within the PS colloids. The morphology, crystallinity, nature and content of carbon, UV-Vis absorption, carbon doping, pore size distribution, pore volume, and BET surface area of the TiO2 microspheres with different amounts of carbon have been measured. The applications of the TiO2/C hybrid microspheres as photo catalyst for water splitting and lithium-ion battery anode have been demonstrated. Superior photo catalytic activity for hydrogen conversion under both full spectrum and visible light illumination compared to commercial P25 has been observed for the TiO2/C microspheres with 2 wt% of carbon. Besides, the TiO2/C microspheres with 8 wt% of carbon as lithium-ion battery anode showed a much higher capacity than the bare TiO2 microsphere anode. The origin for the enhanced performance as photo catalyst and lithium-ion battery anode is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315211, PR China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Luminescence & Applications, 3888 East Nanhu Rd, Changchun 130033, PR China.
authors.forename: Guoqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Yonggao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Luminescence & Applications, 3888 East Nanhu Rd, Changchun 130033, PR China.
authors.forename: Zaicheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Soochow University, Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics & Interdisciplinary Research, Suzhou 215006, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhaohui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications & PKU-HKU Joint Lab on Rare Earth Materials and Bioinorganic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315211, PR China.
authors.forename: Meimei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; Nano Science and Technology Institute, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou 215123, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianzhen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ban
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China; Nano Science and Technology Institute, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou 215123, PR China.
authors.forename: Liangtao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Bao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Guoxin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Huifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Yichao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.affiliation: Soochow University, Center for Soft Condensed Matter Physics & Interdisciplinary Research, Suzhou 215006, PR China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, PR China.
authors.forename: Jian-Qiang
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhaoping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315211, PR China.
authors.forename: Tonghu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications & PKU-HKU Joint Lab on Rare Earth Materials and Bioinorganic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China.
authors.forename: Ling-Dong
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications & PKU-HKU Joint Lab on Rare Earth Materials and Bioinorganic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, PR China.
authors.forename: Chun-Hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, D-55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Butt
authors.affiliation: Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 Zhongguan West Rd, Zhenhai District, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province 315201, PR China. Electronic address: chengyj@nimte.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Ya-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Cheng
keywords: Lithium-ion battery anode; Microsphere; Photo catalyst; Polystyrene; Solvothermal; Titania/carbon hybrid