Use of rice husk as silica source for the synthesis of mesoporous materials and their application in the degradation of different organic compound.

Abstract

In the present work, MCM-41-type mesoporous materials were synthesized using rice husk as precursor of silica. In a first stage, two previous washes of the rice husk were evaluated with water and nitric acid, obtaining silica with a high surface area for washing with acid. The siliceous mesoporous material was synthesized by the hydrothermal treatment method using the silicate supernatant extracted from RHA as silica precursor and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as template. The MCM-41 support was then modified with Fe by the wet impregnation method for its use as heterogeneous catalysts, in the degradation of different organic compounds in aqueous medium, as herbicides (atrazine), compounds derived from the plastic industry (bisphenol A) and the pharmaceutical industry (paracetamol), applying the photo-Fenton heterogeneous reaction (metal/H₂O₂/Radiation); and thus achieve a catalytic system of greater efficiency.