Energy-Efficient Templating Method for the Industrial Production of Porous Carbon Particles by a Spray Pyrolysis Process Using Poly(methyl methacrylate)

Template selection is a critical step to determining an effective and efficient method for the synthesis of porous materials. We introduce the use of the low-cost poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a template in a spray pyrolysis process for the synthesis of a porous carbon particle. Monodisperse, negatively charged, three sizes of PMMA particles are used to evaluate the porous structure formation. The highest surface area of the prepared porous carbon particle is 172 m(2)/g, which is double that of carbon particles produced using a polystyrene latex (PSL) template. The high surface area is attributed to the low PMMA decomposition residue and the formation of a micropore and a mesopore. The use of PMMA reduces the energy consumption for template decomposition by 32% compared with PSL. This benefit suggests an excellent potential for the use of PMMA in the scaled-up production of porous materials.