Facile Synthesis of Silica Composites with Oil Sorption Efficiency from a Vital Agricultural Waste of Corn Stalk Cultivated in Bishoftu, Ethiopia

This study is attempted to extract the amorphous silica composites using the combined HNO3 leaching-calcination (600°C/6 h) method from corn stalk harvested in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, owning to its profuse dumping, less cost, and negative environmental implications. The resultant composite characteristics such as amorphous nature are connected via the grain boundary which produces an agglomerated structure that has a disordered morphology, and the presence of siloxane and silanol groups, as well as additional functional groups, is reported. The synthesized product is applied in the removal of oil from synthetic oily wastewater (SYOWW) using batch mode delivering a maximum oil removal of up to 99%. The outcome of the study features the potential acclimatization of the Ethiopian corn stalk as a substitute precursor for the production of silica composites which has a potential oil adsorption capacity that can be used for oil spill cleanup.