Nanoporous carbon spheres and their application in dispersing silver nanoparticles

Monodisperse nanoporous carbon spheres (NCS) were synthesized in large quantities via a facile hydrothermal synthesis. It is found that the NCS have rough surfaces with a large quantity of uniformly distributed protruding and concaving zones. Large quantities of nanopores of about 0.3 nm in diameter are distributed uniformly on the whole sphere surfaces. The effects of reaction parameters on the surface roughness, sphere diameter and pore size of NCS were investigated. Taking the NCS as substrates, silver nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited onto their surfaces using a one-step ultrasonic electrodeposition procedure. The deposited silver NP has a uniform distribution, a high particle density and a narrow size range of 12–16 nm in diameter. This study demonstrates an efficient approach to fabricate noble-metal/carbon nanocomposites.