How to make nano silica from extracted

silica rice husk?

I've extract pure silica from rice husk by acid leaching. I want to get silica nano particle by base extraction with
sodium hydroxide and acid precipitation. I've dissolve extracted silica rice husk in sodium hydroxide solution then
boiled it for 4 hours and neutralize the solution with sulfuric acid. After I aged it for 6 hours, I still didn't get precipitate
nano silica.

What's wrong with the method I do? Can you provide accurate method to make nano silica from extracted silica rice
husk?

Alas, your method is not good. Dissolving nanosilica in caustic soda (strong alkali) will give you
sodium silicate (salt) solution – not more. Acidification of weak solution of sodium silicate in the
presence of plant polysaccharides will result complexes or amorphous silicic acid. To isolate the
“natural silica nanoparticles” from plant (phytoliths), acids or oxidants must be used only.

Thank you for your answer. But before I added caustic soda, I've leached it with acid to hydrolyze
the polysaccharides. And I've read in many journals that this method can be used for rice husk and
that journals explain sodium silicate will dissociate into silica and sodium sulfate in the presence of
sulfuric acid. Can you give me explanation please?

I cannot give you exact conditions, but very fine silica fume is being generated in gaseous phase it
is usually associated with Silicon metal production or similar processes.

The answer will depend on your aims. What do you plan to explore: the possibility of synthesis of
silica nanoparticles by different methods based on the natural raw materials? or isolation of
vegetable SiO2 particles as the “green nanosilica” synthesis? If the first – the plants are not the best
source of silicon. Use a simple (white) sand, melt it with caustic soda, dissolve sodium silicate in
water and obtain the same solution having much more concentration of silicon (then acidify, etc.). If
your task is utilization of waste from rice industry, it will be easier to burn the husk at a high
temperature, the ash will mainly consist of amorphous fine silica (up to 95%, see attached patent
application). If you try to solve the problem of such recycling by chemical methods - there are a lot of
approaches too (try to search via keywords here http://www.freepatentsonline.com). But if you plan
to explore the pristine phitolytes of rice - use acidic hydrolysis of husk in the mild conditions. IMHO.

Alex - fumed silica is an enormous industry - second only to carbon black in tonnage in the big scale
nano applications. Route is via flame pyrolysis of silicon tetrachloride and as an industry in its own
right - not as an offshoot of the silicon industry (which is much more specialist).

You may want to check:

M.R.B. Taib, "Production of amorphous silica from rice husk in fluidised bed system", Faculty of
Chemical Engineering and Natural Resources Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, April 2007
(Research Report);