Extraction and physical characterization of amorphous silica made from corn cob ash at variable pH conditions via sol gel processing

Herein, we disclose a novel approach for the synthesis of nano-silica using corn cob ash (CCA). Also, we identify that silica is amorphous at pH 7 and crystalline at pH 10 at the critical salt concentration for monovalent NaOH. A zeta potential study was used to characterize the surface charge of nanoparticles. The silica nanoparticles were characterized by SEM-EDS, XRD, FTIR, TEM and XRD confirmed the crystalline nature and TEM images showed spherical silica nanoparticles. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, cation exchange capacity, and N2 analyses showed excellent support material for catalysis at pH 7. The CCA-mediated synthesized particles showed excellent stability at pH 7.