Waste materials conversion into mesoporous silicon carbide nanocermics: Nanofibre/particle mixture

Abstract

This study confirms a sustainable and clean new approach for synthesizing a mesoporous silicon carbide (SiC) nanofibre/particle composite from a binary mixture of two problematic, high volume global waste streams, e-waste glass (SiO2 source) and waste tyre rubber (WTR) through the carbothermal reduction. The resulting composite material consisted of a mixture of nanofibres of 10–150 nm diameters and over 5 microns length, and distributed nanoparticles with particle size ranging between 30 and 40 nm with a relatively high surface area (85.1–67.3 m2 g−1) and a dominant pore size smaller than 2 nm. SiC of nanomaterials is conventionally fabricated from high quality carbon and silicon sources which are expensive and may not prove cost effective from industrial perspective. E-waste glass and waste tyres are both potential sources of valuable secondary resources, but a lack of cost-effective recycling options means vast volumes are landfilled, stockpiled or diverted to unsafe processing operations in developing countries; posing serious environmental and health risks. The simultaneous conversion of two globally significant waste burdens into (SiC) nanofibre/particle composite has not previously been investigated. This novel approach highlights the opportunities for utilizing waste as an alternative resource to deliver economic and environmental benefits and also demonstrates a new low cost means of synthesizing SiC nanofibre/particle composite.