ABSTRACT

                                                                    ABSTRACT

Mas’udah, Kusuma Wardhani. Synthesis and Characterization of Silicon Carbide (SiC) from Silica Rice Husk and Activated Carbon Using Sol-Gel and Solid State Reaction Method. Thesis. Physics Study Program Department of Physics Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences State University of Malang. Advisors : (1) Drs. Abdulloh Fuad, M.Si (2) Nandang Mufti S.Si, M.T, Ph.D

Keywords: Silica Rice Husk, Silicon Carbide, Sol-gel, Sintering.

Utilization of rice husk is limited, generally it’s used as animal feed, fuel for small industry and material for ash. In fact, the husk can be processed to increase the economic value. The rice husk ash contains high silica between 87-97% of weight (by XRF). Extracted silica from rice husk and carbon can be formed a semiconductor material such as silicon carbide (SiC). SiC becomes an object of study which draws the attention of the researchers because it has a broad application potentials at various fields, such as ceramic machines and more engineering applications, including high-temperature structural applications. This research aims to synthesis and investigate the characteristics of silicon carbide (SiC) that is heated at various temperature.

The purification of silica in the rice husk were formed in sol-gel method. Then this silica is used to synthesize the SiC by solid state reaction at 1200-1400^oC. The raw material were used in this study is the rice husk and activated carbon. Rice husk is heated to produce ash at 700°C temperature. The immersion of silica which produced from rice husk ash extraction process was mixed with activated carbon and Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA), then the samples heated at high temperature in argon gas. Preliminary investigation on the husk was characterized by EDS, the crystal structure characterization was performed by using X-ray diffractometer and characterization of resistivity was performed using I-V meter.

The results of the research shows that SiC has been successfully synthesized by using the solid state reaction method with higher fraction of 91,1%. The sintering temperature variations in the sample affects the crystal structure of silicon carbide (SiC). The best result is obtained at sintering temperature 1300^oC with lattice parameters of 4,3517 Å. The characterization of I-V meter results of SiC ceramic material at sintering temperatures 1200, 1300, and 1400^oC shown a semiconductor material with a resistivity of 9,792; 138,3; and 0,0525 Ω.cm.