Facile Synthesis of Carbon Nanomaterials

We present an environmentally-friendly and rapid synthesis approach of highly porous carbon nanomaterial. The direct pyrolysis of the cane sugar was achieved in a hand-fabricated Teflon microchamber. Nanoscale porosity was obtained by in-step decompositions of household baking soda. The surface properties, elemental composition, and crystallinity of the nano-synthesized material were analyzed with field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The data showed in-step incorporation of carbon into high surface area nanospherical morphologies. The oxygen got reduced from the decomposition of sodium bicarbonate. The trapped oxygen was mainly contributed by sodium complex. If employed as an anode in sodium ion battery, such ions would not oxidize when intercalating during the charging. This process of pre-sodiation will be assisting to higher efficiency in the working of a sodium ion battery or even supercapacitors where the intercalation/deintercalation process is rapid.