Silica in waste rice husks used to produce LED light

Their new method transforms agricultural waste - 100 million tons of rice husk waste is produced per year - into light-emitting diodes in a low-cost, environmentally friendly way.

The research team from the Natural Science Center for Basic Research and Development, Hiroshima University, published their findings in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.

“Since typical QDs often involve toxic material, such as cadmium, lead, or other heavy metals, environmental concerns have been frequently deliberated when using nanomaterials,” said Ken-ichi Saitow, lead author and a professor of chemistry at Hiroshima University. “Our proposed process and fabrication method for QDs minimises these concerns,”.

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