Silicon Nanoparticles Derived from Waste Rice Husk as Potential Siliconizing Material for Mild Steel

Siliconizing is one of the case-hardening processes used in the enhancement of some carbon-steel based material properties. Gears, rolling engineering parts, and pickling tanks produced with mild steel can offer better wear and hot-corrosion resistance characteristics through siliconizing. However, the cost of silicon hindered the wide usage of siliconized mild steel, which is the motivation for seeking remedy through processing of agro-waste materials. In this work, waste rice husk was used in the production of silicon nanoparticles using the sol-gel method. The silicon nanoparticles produced were used in the siliconizing of mild steel. The microstructure, hardness values, wear and corrosion tests were determined. The work shows that enhanced hardness values with improved corrosion and wear resistance were obtained when using waste rice husk to siliconize mild steel that can be used in the production of gears and storage tanks.