Abstract:
Nano-silica (NS) from rice husk ash was successfully synthesized using a sol-gel process with the
addition of polyethyleneglycol (PEG) 6000 and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a template. The purpose
of this study is to investigate the properties of NS functional groups and the effect of PEG6000 and
PVA concentrations (5%, 10%, and 15% (b / v)) on the size, morphology, and distribution of
nanosilica. The functional groups of NS are characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), the
size and morphology of NS are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In contrast
the size analyzer characterizes the particle size distributionof particulate matter (PSA). The results
indicated that the addition of PEG-6000 and PVA affected the size and morphology of NS. The
FTIR spectra showed the presence of silanol (Si-OH) and siloxane (Si-O-Si) groups. According to
the SEM results, the morphology of NS -PEG is round and relatively more uniform than the
amorphous morphology of NS-Control and NS-PVA. Instead of PEG-6000, Sol-gel PVA can be
obtained with a narrow particle size distribution.
Keywords: Rice husk ash, Nano silica, sol-gel, polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol
