Preparation and characterization of nano silica from Equisetum arvenses.

With the progress of nanotechnology and increase in demand, several silica processing industries have started producing silica nanoparticles. As a result, the search for new sources capable of producing this material has been attracting the interest of many researchers. With this background, a study was carried out to obtain silica nano particles from the Equisetum arvenses, a plant that possesses one of the highest amounts of silicon. This paper presents the preparation of nano silica particles with different combinations of acid washing and calcination at varying temperatures between 773 K and 873 K. The nanoparticles produced were characterized for nitrogen adsorption, morphology using transmission electron microscope and structural analysis by X-ray fluorescence and diffraction. It was found that nanoparticles produced by two cycles of acid washing and calcination at 773 K gave the best results, producing a material with white color, the highest specific surface area of about 330 m²/g with diameter of about 8 nm, and 93.5% of amorphous silica. The nanoparticles obtained can be potential industrial raw material for many applications