Xiaofei Zhang, Lixin Chen, Chunjia Luo and Jie Kong*, Polymer-Derived Ceramic Microspheres with Controlled Morphology Synthesized via Phase-Separation Assisted Pyrolysis Strategy, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 2016, 99(5): 1485-1493 (2014 IF: 2.610)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jace.14104/full

Abstract: 

In this contribution, a novel and versatile strategy named phase-separation assisted pyrolysis for the preparation of polymer-derived ceramic microspheres with controlled morphology is reported. Various Si-C-N-(Ni) magnetic microspheres with a dimension from micro to nano scale can be conveniently prepared by using polymeric precursor with an assistance of polymer template of linear polystyrene. The morphology of PDC microspheres could be controlled through the feed ratio of precursor and template, pyrolysis temperature and centrifugal fractionation, which were proved with dense structure, tunable crystals and ferromagnetic property with an ultralow hysteresis loss. During phase-separation and pyrolysis, the polymeric precursor or molecular precursor as well as various polymer templates can be employed. So this strategy to synthesize ceramic microspheres with a dimension from micro to nano scale is indeed general and convenient for functional polymer-derived ceramic microspheres with well controlled morphology.