Space-Confined Synthesis of ZIF-67 Nanoparticles in Hollow Carbon Nanospheres for CO2 Adsorption

Herein, the design and synthesis of ZIF-67 nanoparticles (NPs) with tunable size grown inside hollow carbon nanospheres (ZIF-67@HCSs) via a space-confined strategy is reported. HCSs are first prepared via pyrolysis of polystyrene@polypyrrole (PS@PPy) composite nanospheres. Further infiltration of 2-methylimidazole (MI) into the HCSs (MI@HCSs) using a melting-diffusion strategy, followed by immersing MI@HCSs into Co(NO3)(2) solution through the pores and channels of HCSs results in the formation of ZIF-67@HCSs. The as-synthesized ZIF-67@HCSs with tunable ZIF-67 size is achieved by changing the amount of MI. Due to the high pore volume provided by nanoscale ZIF-67 NPs, the as-prepared core-shell ZIF-67@HCSs exhibit outstanding adsorption capacity for CO2.