Facile Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica Aerogels from Rice Straw Ash-based Biosilica via Freeze-drying

The combustion of biomass fuels has been a significant source of global energy, and about 10 million tons of straw are used annually, yielding at least 0.5 million tons of straw ash. However, the ash from rice straw has rarely been reused, thereby contributing to environmental pollution. A new approach is reported for preparing mesoporous silica aerogels using straw ash-based biosilica via a sol-gel process and vacuum freeze-drying. The mesoporous structure, porosity, pore volume, and specific surface area of this straw ash-based aerogel had satisfactory values. Effects of pH on the synthesis of silica aerogel were investigated to better understand the most important factors influencing the gelation, final structure, physicochemical properties, morphology, and thermostability of the samples.