Aniline-assisted synthesis towards a renewable rice husk silica-derived Ni-phyllosilicate / Dayang Nurul Asyiqin Abang Junaidi

In this research, Ni-phyllosilicate (Ni/SiO2) can be prepared by extracting the silica from rice husk ash (RHA). Ni-phyllosilicate become unstable where it agglomerates due to the high surface energy on the surface of the particles and the loss of the surface silanol group during thermal treatment. Therefore, this issue can be prevented by adding aniline to the Ni-phyllosilicate in order to speed up the synthesis of Ni-phyllosilicate. The characteristics of the Ni-phyllosilicate were determined by using Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses. The morphology of AN@Ni-PS showed that the particles were less agglomerate and a few pores can be seen on the particles compared to the Ni-PS. FTIR spectrum showed the intensity of SiO2 in AN@Ni-PS become increased compared to Ni-PS and there is a presence of Ni-O stretching vibration at 665.01 cm-1 in Ni-PS and AN@Ni-PS. In addition, the Ni content (wt%) of Ni-PS and AN@Ni-PS were 0.50 wt% and 1.15 wt%, respectively. This shows that the aniline can affect the nickel content in Ni-phyllosilicate. The crystalline structure of Ni-PS and AN@Ni-PS has been confirmed by the XRD pattern of diffraction peaks at 2Ɵ = 28o, 33o, 36o, 38o, 47o, and 56o. Overall, aniline has been shown to be beneficial in increasing the development of phyllosilicate, which has allowed for the properties of Ni-phyllosilicate to be effectively proven.