Open AccessInexpensive approach for production of high‐surface‐area silica nanoparticles from rice hulls biomass
Author(s) -
Palanivelu Rajagounder,
Padmanaban Periasamy,
Sutha Sadhasivam,
Rajendran Venkatachalam
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
iet nanobiotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1751-875X
DOI - 10.1049/iet-nbt.2013.0057
Subject(s) - nanoparticle , materials science , amorphous solid , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , transmission electron microscopy , scanning electron microscope , chemical engineering , selected area diffraction , particle size , specific surface area , rice hulls , analytical chemistry (journal) , nanotechnology , composite material , chemistry , crystallography , organic chemistry , catalysis , engineering
In this study, we prepared amorphous and crystalline silica nanoparticles from rice hulls biomass using pyrolysis technique at different processing temperatures such as 923, 973, 1023, 1073, 1123 and 1173 K. X‐ray fluorescence studies show that the purity of all the synthesised silica nanoparticles is in the range of 98–99.7%. X‐ray diffraction studies reveal that amorphous silica nanoparticles are formed at 923–1023 K, whereas crystalline particles at 1073–1173 K. Morphology and microstructure of silica nanoparticles are studied by scanning electron and transmission electron microscopes. Silica nanoparticles obtained at different processing temperatures yield particle size in the range of 6–100 nm. Chemical composition and surface functionalities of the particles are examined by energy‐dispersive X‐ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies. The developed method effectively uses rice hulls biomass as a green natural source in the synthesis of amorphous and crystalline silica nanoparticles with high‐specific surface area. The optimised processing temperature (1023 K) enables amorphous silica nanoparticles to have high‐specific surface area of 538 m 2 g −1 .