Rice Husk-Derived Carbon-Coated Silica Hybrid Nanospheres with Tunable Wettability for Cost-Effective and Efficient...

The high-value and refined utilization of biomass is of great significance, but its cost-effectiveness still faces enormous challenges. The carbon-coated silica nanospheres (SiO₂@C) with well-tunable wettability were synthesized through a smart pH-controlled sol-gel/self-assembly approach from rice husks, which function as both renewable carbon and silicon sources. The prepared SiO₂@C supported Ru catalysts (Ru/SiO₂@C) with well-tunable wettability and well-modulated size distribution are active and selective for Pickering interfacial catalysis (PIC), demonstrated by the efficient vanillin hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Metal-support interactions in Ru/SiO₂@C and HDO mechanisms were revealed by computational simulation. Results suggest the existence of multiple HDO mechanisms of vanillyl alcohol over different reaction sites and the potential support-reactant interaction promoting the HDO of vanillyl alcohol. Our work provides an important perspective for the fancy design of cost-effective and efficient catalysts for PIC and highlights the profound value of biomass-derived materials for future energy utilization.