Falko Böttger-Hiller

Twin Polymerization at Spherical Hard Templates: An Approach to Size‐Adjustable Carbon Hollow Spheres with Micro‐ or Mesoporous Shells

Kitset hollow spheres: The combination of twin polymerization with hard templates makes hollow carbon spheres (HCSs) with tailored properties easily accessible. The thickness and pore texture of the HCS shells and also the diameter of the spherical cavity can be varied. The application potential of synthesized HCS is substantiated by an excellent cycling stability of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Sulphur-doped porous carbon from a thiophene-based twin monomer

Sulphur-doped carbon was synthesized using a thiophene-based twin monomer. While tetra(thiophene-2-ylmethoxy)-silane can be converted into sulphur containing nanocomposites, which lead to microporous sulphur-doped carbon, it is possible to produce additional mesopores by the use of templates. Thus, a variety of sulphur-doped carbon materials with tailored pore texture are available.

The Controlled Synthesis of Carbon Tubes and Rods by Template-Assisted Twin Polymerization

The application of porous carbon is versatile. It is used for high-performance catalyst support, electrode material in batteries, and gas storage. In each of these application fields nanostructuring improves the material properties. Supercapacitors store a high energy density. Exactly adapted carbon structures increase the life of lithium batteries and protect catalysts with increasing reaction rate and selectivity. Most of porous carbon materials have a spherical shape. To the best of our knowledge, there is no procedure to synthesize nanostructured cylindrical porous carbon systematically. Here, template glass fibres and SiO2-tubes were modified with nanostructured SiO2/phenolic resin and SiO2/poly(furfuryl alcohol) layers by surface twin polymerization (TP) of 2,2′-spirobi[4H-1,3,2-benzodioxasiline] and tetrafurfuryloxysilane. Afterwards the SiO2/polymer layer on the template is thermally transformed into a defect-free nanostructured SiO2/carbon layer. After completely removing the SiO2 components microporous carbon tubes or rods are finally achieved. The diameters of the carbon rods and the inner as well as the outer diameter of the carbon tubes are adjustable according to the shape and size of the template. Thus, a huge variety of microporous carbon materials can be easily produced by template-assisted TP.