In-situ High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction Studies on Nanostructured β-SiC and Its Promising Feature for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production

International Conference on Condensed Matters and Advanced Materials 2018

Hidayat, Nurul^1 ; Fuad, Abdulloh^1 ; Mufti, Nandang^1 ; Kultsum, Ummu^1 ; Fibriyanti, Anggun Amalia^1 ; Sunaryono^1 ; Prihandoko, Bambang^2

Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang, Jl. Semarang 5, Malang

65145, Indonesia^1

Research Center for Physics, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Kawasan PUSPITEK Serpong, Banten

15310, Indonesia^2

关键词: Crystallographic properties;    Energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy;    Environmental pollutions;    High-resolution transmission microscopies;    Magnesiothermic reduction;    Photocatalytic hydrogen production;    Scanning transmission electron microscopy;    X-ray diffraction studies;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/515/1/012012/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/515/1/012012

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The ruin of energy and environmental pollution has led to the pursuit of novel technologies for green energy productions. For hydrogen energy itself, the search for the photocatalytic-based nanostructured β-SiC is one of the main research focus during the last few years. Herein, we reported the successful magnesiothermic reduction at low temperature, i.e., 700 °C, using an argon gas tubular furnace to fabricate β-SiC with a particle size below 10 nm. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) data collection and Rietveld refinement showed the single phase of moissanite β-SiC formation having cubic structure with lattice constants of a = b = c = 4.3523(50) A and α = β = γ = 90°. The formation of the nanostructured β-SiC was well confirmed by the high-resolution transmission microscopy (HRTEM) image. The equivalent crystallite size produced by the XRD profile analysis was 4.2(8) nm, and extracted from the HRTEM image was about 6 nm. The d-spacing for (111) plane met a reliable agreement between the XRD and HR-TEM data. The energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM-EDS) also brought a good capture for the nearly 50:50 concentration of Si:C in our sample. Furthermore, in-situ heating experiments via HR-TEM were also conducted. In brief, carbon nanolayers were initiated on the surface of the nanostructured β-SiC. All these fine-tuned crystallographic properties assigned the as synthesized β-SiC to be the promising candidate for photocatalytic hydrogen production.