SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PURE AMORPHOUS SILICON OXIDE FROM TREATED KAOLINITIC CLAY USING CHEMICAL EXTRACTION

Pure silicon oxide was produced in this study utilizing a sodium silicate solution made from Kankara clay as a precursor. The Kankara clay that was obtained from Nigeria was first beneficiated to produce pure dried powder clay. After that, the dried powdered clay was treated with heat activation and acid leaching, respectively. In a 500 mL Erlenmeyer flask, appropriate amounts of each clay (raw, thermally treated clay, and leached clay) were reacted with 3M NaOH solution. The flask was heated to 200°C and stirred continuously for 3 hours on a magnetic stirring hot plate connected to a reflux condenser. The solution was filtered to yield sodium silicate solution, which was then precipitated with 3M HCl while constantly stirring to produce a gelly-like white substance. The gel was aged for 18 hours, then washed with de-ionized water several times before being dried at 80°C for 12 hours to get pure white silica particles, which were subsequently described. The XRD analysis revealed that the silicon oxide synthesized is amorphous, but the microstructure evaluation revealed particles aggregation, which is usual in sol-gel synthesized powder.