Study on the Growth of Carbon Microspheres via Hydrothermal Process of Nano-Crystalline Cellulose (NCC)

Development of carbon microspheres has gained some attentions as it widely used as a material for different applications such as electrode in lithium batteries, supercapacitors, pore forming agent in electrode of Solid Oxide... [ view full abstract ]

Development of carbon microspheres has gained some attentions as it widely used as a material for different applications such as electrode in lithium batteries, supercapacitors, pore forming agent in electrode of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), catalyst support and many more. In this study, the growth of carbon microspheres via hydrothermal process of Nano-Crystalline Cellulose (NCC) which is a green material has been elaborated. Hydrothermal reaction was carried out by using 2.5 wt % of NCC solution in a stainless steel autoclave at a constant temperature of 350 °C by varying reaction durations of 2 h to 20 h. The washed and dried sample were then characterized using various analytical instruments such as Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). Carbon microspheres synthesized were to be in the size range between 2 µm to 6 µm diameter with high carbon content of > 80 wt% carbon element.