Synthesis of silica particles from rice straw waste using a simple extraction method

The purpose of this study was to synthesize silica particles from rice straw waste using a simple extraction method. The experiment was conducted by heating and extracting rice straw waste into basic solution. To get silica particles, the extracted solution was then put into acid solution and heated to remove the remained solvent. The experimental results showed that the aggregated silica particles with sizes of about 200 nm were successfully produced. The XRD and FTIR analysis showed that the final product was silica and free of graphite. However, we found that some KCl component in the final product in which this was possibly from the use of KOH as the extraction agent. Therefore, further studies are still required to synthesize high purity silica particles from rice straw waste.