Visible-light photocatalytic activity of SiC hollow spheres prepared by a vapor–solid reaction of carbon spheres and silicon monoxide

SiC hollow spheres are obtained by a vapor–solid reaction using carbon spheres as templates. The prepared SiC hollow spheres are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption, and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The visible-light photocatalytic activity is evaluated by photocatalytic decomposition of the methylene blue in aqueous solution. Results show that the diameter of SiC hollow spheres ranges from 200 to 300 nm and the shell thickness is about 50 nm. The SiC hollow spheres have a high surface area of 83.5 m2/g and exhibit a mesoporous structure characteristic. The photo-response of the SiC hollow spheres expand to visible-light region with band gap energy of 2.15 eV. The SiC hollow spheres exhibit a significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity due to their high surface area as well as large light-harvesting efficiencies.