MATOS, J.; FERNÁNDEZ, M.; ANIA, C.:
Livro de Atas de XXVI Congresso Ibero-americano de Catálise (CICAT-2018), Setembro 2018, pp 220-223.
Abstract
Hybrid materials were prepared by the solvothermal treatment of rice husk (RH) as biogenic precursor in the presence and absence of TiO2. The efficiency of the bare RH-Si and hybrid photocatalysts RH-Si-Ti was presence and absence of TiO2. The efficiency of the bare RH-Si and hybrid photocatalysts RH-Si-Ti was evaluated in the degradation of rhodamine-B under simulated solar light. Data showed that the prepared catalysts displayed a well-developed mesoporous texture with non-negligible surface areas ranging from 65 to 175 m2/g. The calcination at 350°C improved the photocatalytic activity obtained from the biogenic precursor by three times in the absence of TiO2. At converse, RH-Si-Ti photocatalyst showed 8 times higher photoactivity than the calcined sample RH-Si-Ti-350 suggesting a strong interaction between SiO2 and TiO2 along calcination. Results were correlated with the surface pH and the SiO2-TiO2 crystalline phases. The obtained materials are mainly composed of biogenic silica, and most importantly, showed photocatalytic activity comparable to that of commercial TiO2-P25 powders for the degradation of a recalcitrant dye under simulated solar light.