Carbon Powders Prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis of Substituted Alkali Benzoates^†

Abstract

Ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) has been used to prepare carbon spheres from aqueous solutions of substituted\nalkali benzoate salts. The size of the carbon spheres produced during USP can easily be controlled simply by\nchanging the concentration of the precursor solution. Both the cation and the ring substituents of a given\nprecursor influence product morphology, which ranges from solid spheres to hollow bowls to porous spheres.\nThermogravimetic analysis of the various precursors suggests that the relative temperature of decomposition\nsteps releasing gas explain these observed morphology differences.