Preparation of colloidal microporous carbon spheres from furfuryl alcohol

Colloidal microporous carbon (MC) spheres with an average size of 260 nm-1.5 μm were prepared by carbonization of “nonstick” poly(furfuryl alcohol) (PFA) spheres, which were synthesized by a two-step polymerization of furfuryl alcohol (FA) involving slow polymerization (1st step) and sphere formation (2nd step). The high dispersibility of the MC spheres was simultaneously realized by removing surface functional groups of the PFA spheres with the evaporation-induced concentrated sulfuric acid (2nd step). By varying the temperature of slow polymerization, the spheres with different sizes could be simply synthesized. The studies also showed that surfactant and sulfuric acid treatment played an important role in the synthesis of colloidal PFA (MC) spheres.