Production of Santa Barbara Amorphous 15 (SBA-15) using extracted silica from fly ash / Nor Adila Mohd Shah

The purpose of this work is to synthesize Santa Barbara Amorphous 15 (SBA-15) from silica obtained from fly ash. Fly ash is waste generated through combustion of coal from factories and thermal power plants. It is a type of waste that is available in abundant worldwide and may be reuse for other purposes. In this study, Santa Barbara Amorphous 15 (SBA-15) was synthesized from silica extracted from fly ash (FA). This is one of the method utilization of fly ash waste into a valuable product. Silicon dioxide or also known as silica, SiO2 was extracted from FA via treatment with organic acid and alkali with addition of triblock copolymer surfactants of Pluronic P-123 (P-123) to produce SBA-15 as the product. SBA-15 formed were characterized using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). The result from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis indicated that fly ash contains 49.85% of silicate after treatment with acid. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) data indicated the presence of siloxane and silanol groups which represent the silica group. Thermogravimetry (TGA) analysis on the sample SBA-15 calcined at 450ºC, 550ºC and 650ºC shows that the samples started to experience about 50% TGA weight loss at temperature of 863℃. The FESEM image of SBA-15 synthesized at 650ºC displays a highly ordered and well-defined pore structure.