IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i5p4626-d1088222.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Synthesis of Low Density and High Purity Silica Xerogels from South African Sugarcane Leaves without the Usage of a Surfactant

Author

Listed:
  • Ncamisile Nondumiso Maseko

    (Discipline of Chemical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 238 Mazisi Kunene Road, Glenwood, Durban 4041, South Africa)

  • Dirk Enke

    (Discipline of Chemical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 238 Mazisi Kunene Road, Glenwood, Durban 4041, South Africa
    Institute of Chemical Technology, Universität Leipzig, Linnéstr. 3, 04103 Leipzig, Germany)

  • Samuel Ayodele Iwarere

    (Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa)

  • Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi

    (Department of Chemical Sciences (Formerly Applied Chemistry), University of Johannesburg, Doornfontein Campus, P.O. Box 17011, Doornfontein 2028, South Africa
    Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa)

  • Jonathan Pocock

    (Discipline of Chemical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 238 Mazisi Kunene Road, Glenwood, Durban 4041, South Africa)

Abstract

Sugarcane leaves were used to produce high-purity and low-density silica xerogels through a sol–gel method. The biogenic silica produced through a thermochemical method was reacted with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to form sodium silicate and the produced sodium silicate was titrated with 1 M citric acid to form silica gel. The formed silica gel was washed, subjected to a solvent exchange process and later dried at 80 °C to produce low-density and high-purity silica xerogels. The produced xerogels were characterized with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen physisorption, elemental analysis (CHNS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The produced silica xerogels had an amorphous structure and purity of 99.9 wt%. In addition, the textural properties analysis showed that the xerogel has a BET surface area of 668 m 2 ·g −1 , an average pore diameter of 7.5 nm, a pore volume of 1.26 cm 3 ·g −1 and a density of 0.23 g·cm −3 .

Suggested Citation

  • Ncamisile Nondumiso Maseko & Dirk Enke & Samuel Ayodele Iwarere & Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi & Jonathan Pocock, 2023. "Synthesis of Low Density and High Purity Silica Xerogels from South African Sugarcane Leaves without the Usage of a Surfactant," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-12, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:5:p:4626-:d:1088222
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/5/4626/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/5/4626/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ncamisile Nondumiso Maseko & Denise Schneider & Susan Wassersleben & Dirk Enke & Samuel Ayodele Iwarere & Jonathan Pocock & Annegret Stark, 2021. "The Production of Biogenic Silica from Different South African Agricultural Residues through a Thermo-Chemical Treatment Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hossein Beidaghy Dizaji & Thomas Zeng & Volker Lenz & Dirk Enke, 2022. "Valorization of Residues from Energy Conversion of Biomass for Advanced and Sustainable Material Applications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-5, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:5:p:4626-:d:1088222. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.