Low temperature synthesis of high quality carbon nanospheres through the chemical reactions between calcium carbide and oxalic acid

Carbon nanospheres (CNSs) were synthesized through the chemical reactions of calcium carbide and oxalic acid without using catalysts. The chemical reactions were carried out in a sealed stainless steel pressure vessel with various molar ratios at temperatures of 65–250 °C. The synthesized CNSs have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) attached to the SEM, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The total yield of carbonaceous materials relative to the starting material is about 4% (w/w). SEM and TEM results reveal that the percentage of CNSs is high (>95%). The CNSs that have been synthesized are roe-like spheres of relatively uniform size with diameters of 60–120 nm. The attached EDS result shows that the carbon content of CNSs reaches up to 98%.