Silica extraction from rice husk: Comprehensive review and applications

The use of low-cost, renewable or waste resources to create engineered silica particles is a valuable example of sustainability. Rice husks are renewable resources that can be used to create modified silica particles as well as biofuels. The remote and contemporary synthesis methods for producing tailored silica particles from rice husks are described in this review. The first portion of the review gives a brief background of the raw material for the silica synthesis – rice husk. The second part discusses the various procedures for the extraction of silica from rice husks, ranging from physical (thermal) method, chemical methods to other methods such as hydrothermal and carbonation methods. The third part covers a range of possible and researched applications for the engineered silica. Finally, the review discusses the challenges that must be addressed before this process can be commercialized.