Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1482704 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 2010 5 Pages PDF
Abstract

An enzymatic hydrolysis approach was used in order to develop a less aggressive process for production of amorphous silica from rice straw. In the process, rice straw was firstly hydrolyzed either with a microbial isolate (Trichoderma reesei TISTR 3080) or a microbial community (LDD1), followed by a heat treatment at 500 °C for 8 h. After hydrolysis, the rice straw was decomposed by T. reesei and by LDD1 to 59.6% and 45.2% of the initial weight, of which 12% and 23% ash content was respectively determined by thermogravimetric analysis. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis confirmed that the major constituent in the ash to be amorphous silica with a particle size ranges between 50 and 80 nm. The silica content in the T. reesei pretreated ash was 82.5%, whereas the content of the LDD1 pretreated ash was 73.6%. Relatively high levels of impurities such as manganese and phosphate, associated with microbial activity were detected in both pretreated ash samples.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Materials Science Ceramics and Composites
Authors
, , ,