Physical, Chemical and Electrical Conductivity Properties of Bismuth Oxide/ Rice Husk-Based Activated Carbon/Graphite Composite Prepared by the Hydrothermal Method

Abstract

The synthesis of Bismuth Oxide/Rice Husk-based Activated Carbon/Graphite (BO/RH-AC/G) composites using the hydrothermal method with varying concentrations of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate has been conducted. The composites are synthesized from bismuth nitrate pentahydrate, sodium sulfate, and sodium hydroxide precursors added with activated carbon from rice husks and graphite using the hydrothermal method at 110oC for 5 hours. The characterization results show that the concentration of the added bismuth nitrate pentahydrate precursor affects the physical, chemical, and electrical properties of the resulting composites such as crystallinity, presence of functional groups, pore and surface properties, morphology, element distribution, thermal stability, and electrical conductivity. In the use of smaller bismuth nitrate pentahydrate, composite has the highest crystallinity containing mostly ?-Bi2O3 having monoclinic crystal structure, small pore size and high surface area. Each composite showed different pattern of thermal decomposition. Moreover, most products have the same rod-like morphology even though the highest precursor used resulted in lumpy surface shape. The electrical conductivity of composites is higher than that of pure bismuth oxide and rice husk-activated carbon.

Keywords

• bismuth oxide (bo)
• composite
• graphite (g)
• hydrothermal
• rice husk-activated carbon (rh-ac)