Abstract
This work presents the synthesis of SiO2/Nb2O5 and SiO2/ZnS heterostructures using the microwave-assisted hydrothermal (MAH) method, which is fast and has low temperature. The silica used in the synthesis was obtained by burning the rice husk without any pre- or post-treatments. The obtained samples were characterized using various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and UV-visible. The obtained silica was found to be amorphous, and the materials used for modification showed characteristic of the type of synthesis used. SEM images showed that Nb2O5 and ZnS interacted with the SiO2 surface, filling the voids. In the photocatalytic process, the heterostructures showed enhanced decolorization efficiency for dyes such as rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB) compared to SiO2. For RhB, the silica decolorized approximately 24%, and for MB, it discolored approximately 27%; SiO2/Nb2O5 showed 91.24% decolorization efficiency for RhB and 72.77% MB, while SiO2/ZnS showed approximately 96% for RhB and 100% for MB. All samples were tested under the same conditions. This demonstrates that the use of rice husk residue not only improves the photocatalytic activity of heterostructures but also promotes the utilization of improperly discarded residues.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Novonano/UFPEL, FEEVALE, UFRGS, and CBMM for supplying the niobium precursor.
Funding
This work was financially supported by Brazilian research financing institutions: CAPES, CNPq, and Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS), Process nos. 17/25510000889-8 and 19/2551-0001974-2. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior–Brasil (CAPES), Finance Code 001.
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Cátia L. Ücker: conceptualization, methodology, software, investigation, data curation, and writing original draft. Suelen R. Almeida: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, validation, and writing original draft. Guilherme K. Maron: formal analysis. Neftali Lenin Villarreal Carreno: resources and formal analysis. Fernando P. Morisso: formal analysis. Sergio Cava: writing, review, editing, and funding acquisition. Cristiane W. Raubach: writing, review, editing, supervision, and project administration.
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Ücker, C.L., Almeida, S.R., Maron, G.K. et al. Using rice husk ash as a SiO2 source in the preparation of SiO2/Nb2O5 and SiO2/ZnS heterostructures for photocatalytic application. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 68477–68488 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27240-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27240-6