skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Hydrothermal Syntheses of Colloidal Carbon Spheres from Cyclodextrins

Journal Article · · Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 112(37):14236-14240
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/jp801343y· OSTI ID:946653

Colloidal carbon spheres have been prepared from aqueous alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrin (CD) solutions in closed systems under hydrothermal conditions at 160 oC. Both liquid and solid-state 13C NMR spectra taken for samples at different reaction times have been used to monitor the dehydration and carbonization pathways. CD slowly hydrolyzes to glucose and forms 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) followed by carbonization into colloidal carbon spheres. The isolated carbon spheres are 70-150 nm in diameter, exhibit a core-shell structure, and are comprised of a condensed core (C=C) peppered with resident chemical functionalities including carboxylate and hydroxyl groups. Evidence from 13C solid-state NMR and FT-IR spectra reveal that the evolving carbon spheres show a gradual increase in the amount of aromatic carbon as a function of reaction time and that the carbon spheres generated from gamma-CD contain significantly higher aromatic carbon than those derived from alpha- and beta-CD.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
946653
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-59363; 13500; KC0201050; TRN: US200903%%447
Journal Information:
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 112(37):14236-14240, Vol. 112, Issue 37
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English