A Preliminary Work on the Production of Silica Aerogel from Sugarcane Bagasse Ash using Ambient Pressure Drying Method

Abstract

This current work investigates the production of silica aerogel from     sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) employing ambient pressure drying. SCBA was synthesized at 400 ℃ and 600 °C and subsequently boiled in NaOH that produces silica in the form of sodium silicate. Surface modification was done with the aid of Trimethylsilyl chloride (TMCS). The as-synthesized aerogel was successfully characterized by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission (ICP-OES), Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier-Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and oil adsorption test. High concentration of silica was recorded in the extracted sodium silicate at 600 °C (144.5625 ppm) compared to that achieved at 400 °C (139.1625 ppm) that signifies well dissolution of silica achieved at higher temperature. The ATR-FTIR spectrum showed the presence of several new peaks at 3043 cm^-1, 3134 cm^-1, 2927 cm^-1 and 2815 cm^-1 in the spectrum of 600 °C, suggesting the effective substitution of -CH₃ group in Si-OH, in the synthesized aerogel. The non-existence of XRD peak at 2θ = 22° confirmed the crystalline nature of the produced sugarcane bagasse aerogel. Maximum oil adsorption capacity of 2.50 -2.73 g/g demonstrates the promising route for the synthesis of benign product from waste material at ambient condition.