Font Size:
PROCESSING OF RICE HUSK TO BIO-SILICA NANOPARTICLES THROUGH THERMAL COMBUSTION
Last modified: 2015-10-13
Abstract
Considerable amount of rice husk is generated annually worldwide with Malaysia among the top producers. As in concensus with the global model shift towards sustainable development, recognizing and acquiring high value material from this agricultural waste would be desirable. High silica content makes RH an important non-metallic precursor for silica nanoparticles production that worth researchers attraction. Moreover, RH is considered to be cost-effective and widely available agro waste bioresources. In this investigation, bio-silica nanoparticles were produced using RH as precursor. Under reflux heating, the husks were acid pretreated to remove the inorganic impurities and induce the hydrolysis of organic substances. Residual solid husks from the acid pretreatment were then calcined at 973K. Morphology and non-crystal structure of the bio-silica nanoparticles was analysed by TEM and XRD. An aggregate of primary particles having amorphous structure was seen with detection of no impurities. This was confirmed by the EDX elemental profile of Si and O as the observed peaks which indicates high purity of the generated silica nanoparticles. BET surface area of 234.6380sqm/g with a pore diameter of 5.3304nm were obtained from the analysis. This characterized the silica nanoparticles to be of high surface area
Keywords
Polymeric Composite Development