Synthesis and preparation of Nano-silica particles from Iraqi western region silica sand via SOL-GEL method

Nano-silica particles have been successfully synthesized from Iraqi western region sand (Al-anbar sand) by SOL-GEL method, the raw materials for this work were sodium hydroxide, concentrated sulfuric acid, de-ionized water in addition to the Iraqi sand. In this method; solid sodium silicate is dissolved in deionized water and then precipitated by adding concentrated sulfuric acid. The selection of the used Iraqi sand based on XRF analysis, then the produced Sample was studied using XRD, BET surface area, AFM, FT-IR, and SEM analysis, BET Surface area and average particle size were (438,215 m2/g) and (6 nm) respectively. (paper)