Porous carbon spheres from PS-co-DVB: role of ZnCl2 and KOH agents in affecting porosity and surface area

The synthesis of activated-porous carbon spheres, from a cross-linked polystyrene copolymer alone and in presence of different activating agents, such as ZnCl2 and/or KOH under thermal treatment at 800 °C, is reported. In this paper, the role of both the ZnCl2 and KOH not only as activating agents, but also as a hard template, is highlighted, which in addition avoid the collapse of the polymer spheres structure during the pyrolysis. It has been found that, while KOH favours the development of the microporosity and of the surface area, ZnCl2 promotes the mesoporous character of the carbon spheres.