Physical and Thermal Studies of Carbon-Enriched Silicon Oxycarbide Synthesized from Floating Plants

In the present study, amorphous mesoporous silicon oxycarbide materials (SiOC) were successfully synthesized via a low-cost facile method by using potassium hydroxide activation, high temperature carbonization, and acid treatment. The precursors were obtained from floating plants (floating moss, water cabbage, and water caltrops). X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed the amorphous Si–O–C structure and Raman spectra revealed the graphitized carbon phase. Floating moss sample resulted in a rather rough surface with irregular patches and water caltrops sample resulted in a highly porous network structure. The rough surface of the floating moss sample with greater particle size is caused by the high carbon/oxygen ratio (1: 0.29) and low amount of hydroxyl group compared to the other two samples. The pore volumes of these floating moss, water cabbage, and water caltrops samples were 0.4, 0.49, and 0.63 cm 3 g ？1, respectively, resulting in thermal conductivities of 6.55, 2.46, and 1.14 Wm ？1 K ？1, respectively. Floating plants, or more specifically, floating moss, are thus a potential material for SiOC production. View Full-Tex