Synthesis of aluminum and calcium silicate from siliceous agricultural wastes/

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to produce the amorphous aluminum and calcium silicate from siliceous agricultural wastes. Calcium silicate formed from sol– gels are of commercial, industrial, and biomedical interest. Aluminum silicate is a valuable ceramic material being used extensively in ceramic industry. The naturally occurring mineral hydrous aluminum silicate contains many impurities. In present technique the amorphous calcium and aluminum silicate is synthesized from siliceous agricultural wastes (rice husk, on cobs and sugarcane bagasse) as a source of silica. The agricultural wastes were treated with HCl and burnt to achieve maximum yield of sodium silicate after reacting with sodium hydroxide. The sodium silicate solution was subsequently titrated with calcium chloride and aluminum chloride. Both salts rendered the calcium and aluminum silicate. The product was tested by XRD, FTIR, SEM and EDX analyzer. The results confirmed the formation of amorphous aluminum silicate. XRD shows that Aluminum and Calcium Silicate are in it’s pure amorphous form.SEM indicates no crystal formation inside the product. FTIR shows that maximum amount of silicates is formed.