Novel synthesis of SiC/SiO2 nanochain heterojunctions from agricultural waste

In this work, a novel method for preparation of SiC/SiO2 nanochain heterojunctions from sustainable agricultural waste is reported. With corn stover and rice husk ash acting as carbon and silicon sources respectively, SiC/SiO2 nanochains consisting of beads 225 nm in diameter connected by strings 70 nm in diameter and overall 10 μm in length were prepared via a facile catalyst-free carbothermal reduction method. SiC/SiO2 nanochains with good yields and desirable morphologies were obtained at the optimum reaction temperature of 1500 °C and silicon to carbon source weight ratio of 1:3. A possible formation mechanism for the nanochains is proposed. In addition, compared with SiC nanowires, the photoluminescence (PL) spectra measured of the as-prepared SiC/SiO2 nanochains exhibited an obvious blue shift, which suggested that the nanochains have promising application prospects in the field of optical devices. This study provides a facile and environmentally friendly method for the production of SiC/SiO2 nanochain heterojunctions from common agricultural waste and promotes the principles of sustainable development.