Rice husks as a sustainable silica source for hierarchical flower-like metal silicate architectures assembled into ultrathin nanosheets for adsorption and catalysis.

Title Rice husks as a sustainable silica source for hierarchical flower-like metal silicate architectures assembled into ultrathin nanosheets for adsorption and catalysis.
Authors S. Zhang; H. Gao; J. Li; Y. Huang; A. Alsaedi; T. Hayat; X. Xu; X. Wang
Journal J Hazard Mater
DOI 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.09.004
Abstract

Metal silicates have attracted extensive interests due to their unique structure and promising properties in adsorption and catalysis. However, their applications were hampered by the complex and expensive synthesis. In this paper, three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical flower-like metal silicate, including magnesium silicate, zinc silicate, nickel silicate and cobalt silicate, were for the first time prepared by using rice husks as a sustainable silicon source. The flower-like morphology, interconnected ultrathin nanosheets structure and high specific surface area endowed them with versatile applications. Magnesium silicate was used as an adsorbent with the maximum adsorption capacities of 557.9, 381.3, and 482.8mg/g for Pb(2+), tetracycline (TC), and UO2(2+), respectively. Ni nanoparticles/silica (Ni NPs/SiO2) exhibited high catalytic activity and good stability for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction within only ?160s, which can be attributed to the ultra-small particle size (?6.8nm), good dispersion and high loading capacity of Ni NPs. Considering the abundance and renewability of rice husks, metal silicate with complex architecture can be easily produced at a large scale and become a sustainable and reliable resource for multifunctional applications.

Citation S. Zhang; H. Gao; J. Li; Y. Huang; A. Alsaedi; T. Hayat; X. Xu; X. Wang.Rice husks as a sustainable silica source for hierarchical flower-like metal silicate architectures assembled into ultrathin nanosheets for adsorption and catalysis.. J Hazard Mater. 2017;321:92102. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.09.004

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Silicon

See more Silicon products. Silicon (atomic symbol: Si, atomic number: 14) is a Block P, Group 14, Period 3 element with an atomic weight of 28.085. Silicon Bohr MoleculeThe number of electrons in each of Silicon's shells is 2, 8, 4 and its electron configuration is [Ne] 3s2 3p2. The silicon atom has a radius of 111 pm and a Van der Waals radius of 210 pm. Silicon was discovered and first isolated by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1823. Silicon makes up 25.7% of the earth's crust, by weight, and is the second most abundant element, exceeded only by oxygen. The metalloid is rarely found in pure crystal form and is usually produced from the iron-silicon alloy ferrosilicon. Elemental SiliconSilica (or silicon dioxide), as sand, is a principal ingredient of glass, one of the most inexpensive of materials with excellent mechanical, optical, thermal, and electrical properties. Ultra high purity silicon can be doped with boron, gallium, phosphorus, or arsenic to produce silicon for use in transistors, solar cells, rectifiers, and other solid-state devices which are used extensively in the electronics industry.The name Silicon originates from the Latin word silex which means flint or hard stone.

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