Abstract
BackgroundRice husk, an agricultural bioresource, is utilized as a non-metallic bio-precursor to synthesize biogenic hierarchical TiO2/SiO2 (BH-TiO2/SiO2) and the products are applied to dye degradation.Methodology/Principal FindingsThe as-prepared BH-TiO2/SiO2 samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), nitrogen-adsorption measurement, UV-vis spectroscopy and electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The results show that BH-TiO2/SiO2 possesses both anatase and rutile phases with amorphous SiO2 as background, which contains mesopore structure, and nitrogen derived from original rice husk is self-doped into the lattice. Besides, the light-harvesting within the visible-light range of BH-TiO2/SiO2 has been enhanced. Moreover, the catalytic activity of BH-TiO2/SiO2 has been proven by EPR, and both the photocatalytic activity and stability of BH-TiO2/SiO2 are improved as well, which has been illustrated by cycled degradation of methylene blue dye under irradiation.Conclusions/SignificanceThis work provides a good way to combine natural hierarchical porous structure with synthetic material chemistry based on available biomass in the vast natural environment for the sustainable development of human society, and extends potentials of biomass in applications such as photocatalysts, sunlight splitting water and so forth.
Highlights
Bioresource and biochemical technology play a vital role in the sustainable development of human society [1]
Biomorphic mineralization has attracted a lot of attention, which is a technique that employs natural things as biotemplates for mineralization to synthesize bio-templated materials with morphologies and structures being similar to those of the biotemplates, which does well in utilizing biomass in the vast natural environment [4]
Materials derived from biomass—biogenic materials, are combination of natural hierarchical porous structure with synthetic material chemistry, which could contribute to the natural environment and play an important role in the field of biochemistry and bioresource engineering
Summary
Bioresource and biochemical technology play a vital role in the sustainable development of human society [1]. Biomorphic mineralization has attracted a lot of attention, which is a technique that employs natural things as biotemplates for mineralization to synthesize bio-templated materials with morphologies and structures being similar to those of the biotemplates, which does well in utilizing biomass in the vast natural environment [4]. It inspires us that biomass could play a part in bio-precursors mineralization, because most biomass contains abundant non-metallic elements with hierarchical porous structure which covers the scale of micro, meso and macro. Materials derived from biomass—biogenic materials, are combination of natural hierarchical porous structure with synthetic material chemistry, which could contribute to the natural environment and play an important role in the field of biochemistry and bioresource engineering. An agricultural bioresource, is utilized as a non-metallic bio-precursor to synthesize biogenic hierarchical TiO2/SiO2 (BH-TiO2/SiO2) and the products are applied to dye degradation
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