Hydrophobic precipitation of carbonaceous spheres from fructose by a hydrothermal process

We report a new mechanism of hydrophobic ripening for the formation of carbonaceous spheres by the dehydration of saccharides in a hydrothermal aqueous environment using fructose as a model precursor material. We investigated the formation of carbonaceous spheres from fructose in aqueous solutions under hydrothermal conditions. The spheres were found to contain 65.7 wt.% C, 4.3 wt.% H and 30.0 wt.% O, implying incomplete dehydration of the fructose. The spheres, typically ranging between 400 nm and 10 μm in diameter, are found to be constructed entirely of primary particles of ∼5 nm. The chemical structure of the carbonaceous spheres and the chemical compositions of residual solutions were analysed using solid state and solution 13C nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Based on these results, a four-step mechanism for the formation and growth of carbonaceous spheres has been proposed.