Preparation of a carbon_silica hybrid from rice husk using an Ichigo Si system and its use in preparing high surface area carbon materials

Rice husk was transformed into a carbon-silica composite (NEO SILICA) by using a new efficient heat treatment process, called the Ichigo Si (ISI) system. The system consists of a kind of fluidized bed furnace based on the self-combustion mechanism of rice husk in air, which can be operated at temperatures from 300 to over 1000 °C for less than one second. The NEO SILICA has a thin lamellar shape with a sandwich structure consisting of a central carbon layer and silica surface layers. Porous carbon with a surface area of around 3200 m2/g was prepared from the NEO SILICA by KOH activation. Its pore structure was highly dependent on the activation parameters such as the amount of KOH and temperature. Various pore structures can be obtained by adjusting the activation parameters, all having a surface area of more than 3000 m2/g.