A facile template free synthesis of porous carbon nanospheres with high capacitive performance

Porous carbon nanospheres have been widely used in different fields such as electric devices, catalysts, and water treatment. Here we will introduce a template-free process for the preparation of porous carbon nanospheres starting from a direct 3-aminophenol formaldehyde polymerization in a mixed solution. We identify that the addition of different alcohols, particularly ethanol and n-butanol, is able to change the growth habit of the polymer nanospheres and introduce a favorable inner compositional homogeneity for the preparation of porous structure. After the carbonization of the polymer nanospheres, the obtained porous carbon exhibits promising electrochemical performance when used as electrode material in super capacitor.