Phenolic resin and derived carbon hollow spheres

Phenolic formaldehyde (PF) resins are attractive due to their excellent performances such as high temperature resistance, thermal abrasion, and high yield of carbon conversion. In this communication, PF resin-based composite hollow spheres were fabricated by in situ favorable absorption and catalytic crosslinking of PF resin within sulfonated polystyrene gel layers of the hollow sphere templates at low temperature. The composite hollow spheres were achieved in one step, avoiding traditional removal of template cores. The intact shell was tuned from double-layered to single-layered. Carbon hollow spheres with porous shell were derived by carbonization of the PF composite hollow spheres. Metal/carbon composite hollow spheres were further synthesized by the incorporation of metal within the porous shell, which would be a promising material for catalysis.