One-pot synthesis of nanoscale silver supported biomass-derived silica

In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNP/SiO2) with an average diameter of 25 nm were successfully fabricated using silica rice husk as support via a simple yet cheap sol-gel route at room temperature. The synthesized AgNP/SiO2 was characterized by several spectroscopic methods such as FTIR, SEM/EDX, XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption and TEM analyses. FTIR and EDX analyses showed the successful inclusion of silver into the silica framework. Preservation of the amorphous nature of silica in AgNP/SiO2 was confirmed from the high angle powder XRD analysis. High mesoporosity of AgNP/SiO2 (BET surface area = 514 m2g-1 and pore volume = 0.50 ccg-1) was clearly evidenced from the N2-sorption studies. Well-dispersion of spherical Ag nanoparticles was observed through the TEM investigation. This research proves the successful conversion of uneconomical biomass into discreet AgNP/SiO2 via a facile and novel sol-gel method.