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Undoped, N-doped, and S-doped porous carbons were prepared via the hard-template method by direct carbonization of aromatic precursors on MgO at 500 °C and autogenic pressure. The influence of aromatic precursors on the yield, morphology, structure, surface composition, and textural properties of the carbons was investigated. The side-chain and number of the benzene ring promoted the yield of carbon. Acenes produced more carbon among the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The highest yield of carbon was 52.9 wt% using pyrrole as precursor on a commercial sheet MgO. The size of micropores and macropores as well as nitrogen content was also dependent on the aromatics. Three types of MgO were compared using pyrrole as precursor. Morphology of MgO played a key role on the yield of porous carbon. The yield of carbon reached 50.5 wt% and the surface area of carbon was 671 m 2  g −1 on a home-made MgO. After KOH activation, the surface area of the porous carbon increased dramatically to 2788 m 2  g −1 and exhibited a high adsorption capacity up to 980.4 mg g −1 for methylene blue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Catalytic carbonization of polystyrene into mesoporous hollow carbon nanospheres (HCNs). [•] Organically-modified montmorillonite (OMMT) improved the yield and morphology of HCNs. [•] OMMT affected the cobalt catalyst dispersion and the polystyrene degradation products. [•] The growth mechanism of mesoporous HCNs was studied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]