Compositional Analysis of Zimbabwean Sugarcane Bagasse Ash Towards Production of Nano Silicon for Solar Cell Application

Effect of Calcination Temperature on the Synthesis of Silica from Bagasse

“…The Na2SiO3 solution was titrated using HCl to form a silica solid. The reaction that occurs is [5]:…”

“…In this process, 8-10% of solid waste is produced in the form of ash [3]. Bagasse ash cannot be used as fertilizer because it is low in nutrients and even increases heavy metals concentration in the soil, for example Al2O3, Fe2O3, MnO, Cr2O3, NiO [4,5]. The research by Norsuraya [6] showed that bagasse ash contained 53.10% silica.…”

“…Silica has several properties, such as high thermal stability, low bulk density, and low thermal conductivity [10,11]. Several silica applications include catalysts, cosmetics, ceramics, cement, pharmaceuticals, and detergents [5,12]. Silica is also commonly applied as a precursor for the synthesis of inorganic and organometal substances, as a coating for electronic and optical materials, as a filler for composites, and as a filler in photochromic pigment [13,14].…”

“…Silica can be extracted from biomaterials using several methods, including precipitation using acid [18], ion exchange resin [19], ablation and calcination then followed by treatment using alkaline solutions [20], sol-gel followed by adsorption using activated carbon [5]. Researchers generally extract silica out of bagasse ash from sugar factory waste.…”

“…Research on silica extraction from rice husks with calcination temperature variations of 400-900℃ shows that the optimum temperature is at 500℃, where the soluble fraction of silica is most significant [21]. Calcination temperature affects the type of phase, the percentage of silica produced, and the surface area [5,22]. SiO2 from bagasse ash with acid treatment and calcined at a temperature of 500 o C produced 63.122% [23], at a calcination temperature of 600 o C and 1000 o C obtained 70.97% [23] and 87.63% [24], respectively.…”