Low temperature fabrication of hollow carbon nanospheres over Ni/Al2O3 by the catalytic method

A mass of hollow carbon nanospheres was fabricated by chemical vapor deposition of methane over Ni/Al2O3 catalyst at 600 °C. The products were characterized with scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and high-resolution transmission electron microscope images. The results showed that the external diameter of the hollow carbon nanospheres was 5–90 nm and the thickness of the wall was about 15 nm. And a possible formation mechanism of the hollow carbon nanospheres was discussed.