Abstract
The development of hollow carbon balls by $CO_2$ oxidation of two types of carbon blacks was studied. Super P (SP) and Denka Black (DB) were used for this study. Specific surface area (SSA), structural parameters, and microstructures were examined using Brunauer, Emmett and Teller apparatus, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscope (TEM), respectively. The SSAs of both oxidized carbon blacks increased after oxidation. The SSAs of raw DB and SP were 73 $m^2/g$ and 60 $m^2/g$, respectively. Maximum SSAs of oxidized DB and SP were 152 $m^2/g$ and 253 $m^2/g$, respectively. The $d_{002}$ of DB and SP showed almost no change after oxidation. The Lc of raw DB ($38{\AA}$) and SP ($19{\AA}$) increased with increasing weight loss. The $L_c$ of SP increased up to $254{\AA}$ at 96% weight loss. The SSA increased about twice in DB (148 $m^2/g$) and about four times in SP (254 $m^2/g$) after 3 h oxidation compared with the original carbon blacks. Through TEM observation the outer parts of the oxidized carbon blacks showed a rigid shell structure and the inner parts looked empty. Generally it looked like an angular soccer ball, so we named it 'hollow carbon ball'. It is expected that the hollow carbon ball can be used as catalyst supports.
