A self-assembly template approach for preparing hollow carbon microspheres

Hollow carbon microspheres (HCMs) are prepared in a sealed quartz tube via the reaction between ferrocene and ammonium bromide. The morphology and microstructure of the product are characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam workstation, transmission electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry analysis. The diameter of the HCMs ranges from 1 to 13 μm and the thickness of shells ranges from 70 nm to 450 nm. It is concluded that the self-generated spherical droplets of iron amine bromide serve as the core templates for the formation of HCMs.