Original Research Paper
A facile synthesis of silicon carbide nanoparticles with high specific surface area by using corn cob

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2018.10.019Get rights and content

Highlights

  • β-SiC nanoparticles with high specific surface area were synthesized by using corn cob as source.

  • SiC nanoparticles consisted of particles with diameter of 40–100 nm.

  • This approach reduces agricultural waste and dependency on conventional raw materials.

Abstract

Corn cob, which possesses low ash and high carbon contents, is a common waste material that accounts for a large amount of agricultural waste. This paper reports about a facile method to synthesize silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles with high specific surface area by using corn cob as a carbon source. The method is accomplished by carbothermal reduction at 1350 °C using corn cob as carbon source and silicon monoxide as silicon source. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectra results confirmed the formation of synthesized SiC particles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated the major phases of 3C-SiC. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the SiC particle size is in the range of 40–100 nm and mainly composed of sphere-shaped nanoparticles. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area of samples is 80.25 m2/g. In addition, we proposed the formation mechanism of SiC nanoparticles with high specific surface area by adsorption and vapor–solid mechanism. This facile method for synthesizing SiC nanoparticles provides a new idea for high-value application of corn cobs and new raw material for the preparation of silicon carbide.

Introduction

With low dimensionality, quantum confinement, and shape effects, nanostructured SiC materials are expected to exhibit properties that their bulk counterparts may not possess. These materials also display potential applications in electronic devices [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], sensors [6], [7], [8], catalysts [9], [10], [11], and biological technologies [12], [13]. Currently, many techniques have been developed or applied to the synthesis of SiC nanomaterials. The most common methods are chemical vapor deposition of methane and silane-containing compound [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], carbonization of the reaction mixture of silicon- and carbon-containing powders, and carbothermal reduction of fine sources of carbon and silicon, which are either natural or artificial sources [22], [23], [24], [25], [26]. Laser ablation [27], [28], [29] and sol–gel [30], [31] methods are also used to prepare SiC nanomaterials. Although these methods can fabricate SiC nanomaterials, expensive raw materials, complex process, and low yield pose a problem in the commercialization of these methods. Therefore, researchers developed methods with simple process and cheap raw materials to fabricate SiC nanomaterials. The method that uses biomass waste and other biomass raw materials to prepare SiC nanomaterials is expected to achieve the above objectives. Several studies focused on the use of agricultural waste to prepare SiC nanomaterials. Qadri et al. [32] used rice husk as raw material to prepare β-SiC powder with particle size ranging within 100–300 nm under microwave conditions at 1900 °C. Patel and Kumari et al. [33] prepared silicon carbide whiskers and granules with pyrolysis of sugarcane leaves and straw at 1600 °C. Selvam et al. [34] used coconut shell as raw material and pyrolyzed it at 1400 °C under argon conditions to prepare silicon carbide whiskers. These studies mainly used rice husk, sugarcane leaf, rice straw, coconut shell, and other agricultural wastes as alternative silica sources to prepare nano-SiC. A few studies reported about the use of biomass as a carbon source for SiC synthesis. However, low yield and unwanted impurities are major issues.

Corn is one of the most common crops in the world. According to statistics, as one of the major agricultural countries, China’s corn production in 2016 is 21.955 million tons [35], thereby resulting in approximately 4.6 million tons of corn cob. At present, corn cob is mainly used as feed, fuel, furfural production material, and raw material for activated carbon and building materials [36], [37], [38], [39], [40]. Nevertheless, these uses show low added value. Important and attractive properties of the corn cob waste are the remarkably low ash content and high carbon content compared with those of other biomass, such as coconut shell. Thus, corn cob is a potential carbon source for synthesizing SiC materials. In the present study, a facile synthesis of SiC nanoparticles with high specific surface area by using waste corn cob active carbon as a carbon source was investigated. The composition and morphology of synthesized SiC nanoparticles have been characterized in detail by using various analytical techniques.

Section snippets

Material and methods

Corn cob powder was obtained from Henan Province in China. Corn cob active carbon (30 mesh) was prepared by chemical activation method. The specific preparation method was described in the reference [41]. Silicon monoxide (SiO, 200 mesh, 99.99%, Xuyi Xinyuan Optical Science Technology Co., Ltd, China) and the obtained activated carbon from corn cob were used as silicon and carbon sources, respectively. SiO and activated carbon were mixed by wet milling in a planetary ball mill (QM-3SP04, China)

Results and discussion

The carbon source in this study is activated carbon prepared by corn cob. The carbon content and chemical composition of the corn cob and the yield of the activated carbon from corn cob are important factors for the preparation of SiC. The results of ultimate and proximate analysis of corn cob used in this study are represented in Table 1. Corn cob ash was characterized by XRF to determine the content of chemical elements in the corn cob. The composition of the ash is shown in Table 2. The

Conclusions

SiC nanoparticles with high specific surface area are synthesized by using corn cob via carbothermal reduction method. The particle size of SiC nanoparticles is in the range of 40–100 nm. The specific surface area is 80.50 m2/g. XRD, FT-IR and Raman analyses showed that the phase is 3C-SiC in SiC nanoparticles, and no other phase exists. This paper provides a facile method and a new carbon source for the preparation of SiC nanoparticles and a new direction for the high-value application of corn

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (Grant Nos. 2014CFB788) and the Key Technologies R&D Program of Hubei Province of China (Grant Nos. 2014BAA102).

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