Silicon-containing products
AssigneeSi Options, LLC
InventorsNorman D. Hinman, Charles E. Wyman
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Abstract
A method for producing carbon-silica products from silica-containing plant matter such as rice hulls or straw by leaching with sulfuric acid to remove non-silica minerals and metal while adjusting the mole ratio of fixed carbon to silica in the resultant product. The carbon and silica are intimately mixed on a micron or submicron scale and are characterized by high purity and reactivity, small particle size, high porosity, and contain volatile carbon that can be used as a source of energy for the production of silicon-containing products from the carbon-silica products. High purity silicon-containing products made from the carbon-silica products of the invention are also disclosed.
Claims46
A carbon-silica product derived from untreated rice hulls by leaching said untreated rice hulls with aqueous sulfuric acid, the product comprising a particulate powder, each particle of the powder further comprising fixed carbon and silica bound to each other on at least a micron scale in a mole ratio that is selectively controllable between about 2:1 and about 5:1 without the use of a binding agent by conducting said leaching at temperatures ranging from about 25 to about 250 deg. C., said leached carbon-silica product comprising less than about 1000 ppm total mineral and metal impurities.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.