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Title :Characterization of crystalline nano silica extracted from rice husk

Introduction

The nanoparticles of silicon dioxide (SiO2), is the inorganic compound of silicon, also

known as nanosilica or silica nanoparticles having a tremendous importance in various

specialized technologies such as catalysis, ceramics, chemicals, coatings, chromatography,

electronics, energy, food and pharmaceutical industries [1-3]. The importance of these materials

stem from their characteristic properties such as size, shape, high surface area, high crystallinity,

adsorption, dispersion and their functionalization that has brought a dramatic change in the

modern world [4].

The nanosilica can be produced from chemical sources such as Tetraethoxysilane and

tetramethoxysilane, other natural sources, including quartz and biomasses [5]. The nano silica in

powder form is produced by means of sol-gel, thermal decomposition, vapour-phase reaction and

alkali extractions methods [6-7]. The natural source based nanosilica production is considered to

be more economical as compared to those ones obtained from chemicals due to their high cost.

The natural based biomasses such as sugar cane, baggasse, bamboo leaves, rice husk [8-9] are

considered to be more cost effective and are frequently used to obtain nano crystalline silica

from their extracted silica. Among The natural sources, rice husk is the most abundantly

available by-product of the paddy field which is utilized to produce nano silica.

The nano silica powder with high purity will be prepared from rice husk using simple

chemical method (alkali extraction, followed by an acid precipitation) with elevated heat

treatment [10]. The composition, crystallinity, morphology, size and surface area of the produced

nano silica will be examined.

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The purpose of the present study is to prepare the nano silica powder using rice husk (RH)

as a raw precursor. The detailed analysis of the product will be performed.

Aims and Objectives

1. Extraction of amorphous silica from rice husk

2. Conversion of extracted silica to nano crystalline silica

3. Characterization of the extracted nano silica samples with different techniques

Plan of Work

Sample Collection:

Rice Husk (RH) as raw material will be collected from the local milling machines, Distract

Bannu, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.

Methods and materials

Chemicals such as HCl, H2SO4 and NaOH (Sigma-Aldrich) as an analytical grade reagents

will be used. Disttilled water will be used throughout the experiment. The RH samples will be

washed with water to remove dirt and other contaminants, and then will be dried for two days in

the sunlight. The dried samples will be pyrolysed in the stainless steel reaction container inserted

into a heating chamber (local made). After pyrolysis the samples will be grounded using mortar

and pestle.

The PRH sample will be then refluxed with 1M solution of HCl (37%) at 90oC for different

time intervals under magnetic stirring at various rpm. Then the resulted refluxed PRH sample
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will be filtered repeatedly and washed using hot distilled water. After filtration, the collected

samples will be dried in an oven at 110oC till overnight.

For silica extraction, the PRH sample will be stirred with different concentration of 1, 1.5, 2,

2.5 and 3M NaOH solutions by heating at 90oC for different time durations and then will be

filtered using filter paper (Whattman) and washed repeatedly with hot and cold distilled water.

The filtrate containing silica will be neutralized by adding H2SO4 drop wise to obtain silica gel

with different pH ranges as described earlier in the literature [11]. After acid treatment, the silica

gel will be filtered and washed for several times with distilled water. Then the resulted silica gel

will be dried in an Oven at 80oC till overnight. Finally, the dried silica will be grounded into

powder form using mortar and pestle and then will be stored in glass bottles for further use.

For preparation of nano silica, the powdered silica sample will be heated in Ashing Furnace

(AAf-1100, Carbolite, UK) at a heating rate of 10°C/m at 700oC for several time intervals to

remove impurities. After purification, the sample will be further heat treated at a heating rate of

15°C/m at 1100oC to convert into the nano crystalline silica.

Data Processing

Percent yields of extracted silica from rice husk using various concentrations of alkaline

solutions of NaOH at various pH ranges will be calculated using the simple mathematical

equation:

Weight of pyrolysed RH - Weight of silica

Yield(%)  x 100
Weight of pyrolysed RH

Source of Data Collection:

BET surface area

FT-IR spectroscopy,
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Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy

X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (WDXRF)

X-ray diffraction, (XRD)

References

1. Mesoporous silica nanomaterials applications in catalysis

2. Silica-based Nanoceramics

3. Synthesis and Application of Nano-Sized SiO2 to Textiles: a Review

4. Properties and application of silica nano particles

5. Agricultural wastes as a source of silica materials

6. Synthesis of silica nano particles from vietnamese rice husk by sol-gel method

7. Synthesis and characterization of nanosilica prepared by precipitation method

8. Sugar cane bagasse as a renewable source of silica to synthesize santa barbara amorpous-15.
9. Silicon conversion from bamboo leaf silica by magnesiothermic reduction for development
of Li-ion battery anode
10. Preparation of silica powder from rice husk
11. High-purity nano silica powder from rice husk using a simple chemical method.
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