High-purity nano silica powder from rice husk using a simple chemical method

A highly pure, small particle-sized and high surface area nano silica powder was prepared from rice husk using alkali extraction, followed by an acid precipitation method. The composition, phase, morphology, size and surface area of the as-synthesised nano silica powder was investigated by energy-dispersive spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, particle size analyser and BET surface area analyser. High-purity nano silica powder was obtained by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) purification treatment (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5N). The high purity of silica (approximate to 99.9%) was obtained at 2.5N NaOH treatment. The pure nano silica powder that is obtained shows an average particle size of approximate to 25nm with a high-specific surface area (SSA) of 274m(2)g(-1), with an average pore diameter of 1.46nm.