Synthesis of low density and high purity silica xerogels from South African sugarcane leaves without the usage of a surfactant
dc.contributor.author | Nondumiso Maseko, Ncamisile | |
dc.contributor.author | Enke, Dirk | |
dc.contributor.author | Iwarere, Samuel Ayodele | |
dc.contributor.author | Oluwafemi, Oluwatobi Samuel | |
dc.contributor.author | Pocock, Jonathan | |
dc.contributor.email | samuel.iwarere@up.ac.za | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2024-01-17T12:53:58Z | |
dc.date.available | 2024-01-17T12:53:58Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2023-03-05 | |
dc.description.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 m2g1, an average pore diameter of 7.5 nm, a pore volume of 1.26 cm3g1 and a density of 0.23 gcm3. | en_US |
dc.description.department | Chemical Engineering | en_US |
dc.description.librarian | am2024 | en_US |
dc.description.sdg | SDG-15:Life on land | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | University Capacity Development Program. | en_US |
dc.description.uri | https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | Maseko, N.N.; Enke, D.; Iwarere, S.A.; Oluwafemi, O.S.; Pocock, J. Synthesis of Low Density and High Purity Silica Xerogels from South African Sugarcane Leaves without the Usage of a Surfactant. Sustainability 2023, 15, 4626. https://DOI.org/10.3390/su15054626. | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 2071-1050 (online) | |
dc.identifier.other | 10.3390/su15054626 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/94001 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | MDPI | en_US |
dc.rights | © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. | en_US |
dc.subject | Xerogel | en_US |
dc.subject | Sugarcane leaves | en_US |
dc.subject | Sol–gel method | en_US |
dc.subject | Amorphous biogenic silica | en_US |
dc.subject | Value added material | en_US |
dc.subject | Solvent exchange | en_US |
dc.subject | SDG-15: Life on land | en_US |
dc.title | Synthesis of low density and high purity silica xerogels from South African sugarcane leaves without the usage of a surfactant | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |