Rapid synthesis of nanostructured porous silicon carbide from biogenic silica

Nanostructured silicon carbide (SiC) is an exceptional material with numerous applications, for example, in catalysis, biomedicine, high-performance composites, and sensing. In this study, a fast and scalable method of producing nanostructured SiC from plant materials by magnesiothermic reduction via self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) route was developed. The produced biogenic material possessed a high surface area above 200 m²/g with a SiC crystallite size below 10 nm, which has not been done previously by SHS. This method enables affordable synthesis of the material plant-based precursors in a reaction that only takes a few seconds, thereby paving a way for nanostructured SiC production in high volumes using renewable resources. The material was also functionalized with carboxylic acid and bisphosphonate moieties, and its use as metal adsorbent in applications such as wastewater remediation was demonstrated.