Synthesis and characterization of amorphous mesoporous silica from palm kernel shell ash

Abstract: tThis study synthesized and characterized amorphous mesoporous silica from palm ker-nel shell ash. Sol–gel synthesis technique was used to produce the amorphous mesoporoussilica from palm kernel shell ash. Silica is an affordable material with numerous applicationsincluding glass production, electronics and polymer materials, drug delivery and energystorage. It has been manufactured from different agricultural bio-resources with limitedresearch on palm kernel shell ash (PKSA). The synthesized amorphous mesoporous silicawas characterized using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforminfrared (FTIR) techniques, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray(EDX). The XRD patterns reveal the amorphous nature of the extracted amorphous silica,EDX confirmed the presence of SiO2, while FTIR analysis shows the existence of silanoland siloxane groups. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) indicate presence of physicallyadsorbed and chemically bound water. Silica yield after synthesis was 96.83%. This suc-cess means decreases in environmental contamination caused by indiscriminate disposalof palm kernel shell (PKS) and amorphous silica for advanced material applications includingglass and ceramics, drug delivery