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Direct Conversion of Rice Husks to Nanostructured SiC/C for CO 2 Photoreduction
Author(s) -
Weng Wei,
Wang Sibo,
Xiao Wei,
Lou Xiong Wen David
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.202001560
Subject(s) - materials science , carbonization , nanowire , husk , chemical engineering , nanostructure , composite number , nanotechnology , electrochemistry , carbon fibers , molten salt , adsorption , electrode , composite material , metallurgy , organic chemistry , scanning electron microscope , chemistry , botany , engineering , biology
A one‐step and template‐free synthesis of a SiC nanowires/C (SiC‐NW/C) composite from rice husks (RHs) is realized via a molten‐salt‐assisted electrochemical method. The process integrates simultaneously carbonization, electrodeoxidation, nanostructuring, and self‐purification for converting RHs to a SiC‐NW/C hybrid that is assembled from SiC NWs embedded in porous N‐doped graphitic carbon with strong coupling. The SiC‐NW/C nanostructure enables efficient CO 2 adsorption and fast separation and transfer of charge carriers. Benefiting from the structural and compositional merits, the SiC‐NW/C composite shows superior activity for photoreduction of CO 2 to CO, in the absence of any additional cocatalysts or sacrificial agents. The process proposed herein might help to bridge a closed‐loop carbon cycle in the whole production–utilization of biomass.