The effects of silica (SiO2) derived from rice husk composition and sintering temperature on the fabrication of silica (SiO2) and silica-nickel oxide (SiO2-NiO) porous bodies

• Main Author: Abdul Rahim, Putri Syalabiah
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: T Technology (General); TA401-492 Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
• Online Access: http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6481/1/24p%20PUTRI%20SYALABIAH%20ABDUL%20RAHIM.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6481/2/PUTRI%20SYALABIAH%20ABDUL%20RAHIM%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6481/3/PUTRI%20SYALABIAH%20ABDUL%20RAHIM%20WATERMARK.pdf; http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6481/

Ceramic porous body with low density but high strength is one of the materials which required various process to be produced. Several attempts have been made to achieve the specific characteristics. However, porous materials have yet to be understood. This study aimed to fabricate Silica (SiO2), and Silica-Nickel Oxide (SiO2-NiO) porous bodies with high porosity, excellent physical and mechanical properties. In this research, Silica (SiO2) powder derived from rice husk with the composition of 40 wt%, 45 wt %, 50 wt % and 55 wt% that supported by different Nickel Oxide (NiO) compositions, which are 0 wt% and 5 wt% were mixed with binders of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) as pore-forming agent. SiO2 and SiO2-NiO porous bodies were fabricated by a sacrificial template method and sintered at 950 ℃, 1,050 °C, 1,150 °C and 1,250°C. Characterisation of SiO2 and SiO2- NiO porous bodies included morphological analysis, elemental analysis, phase analysis, thermal analysis, shrinkage analysis, porosity and density analysis, and compressive strength analysis. The morphology of SiO2 and SiO2-NiO porous bodies showed open pores with size ranging from 1.5 µm to 13.1 µm, interconnected cells by strut and closed pores. The result of apparent porosity and bulk density of SiO2 and SiO2-NiO porous bodies was calculated according to Archimedes’ principle. The lowest result of apparent porosity obtained was 59.43%, and the highest was 71.53%. Meanwhile, the lowest and the highest value for bulk density were 0.65 g/cm3 and 0.98 g/cm3, respectively. The compressive strength of SiO2 and SiO2-NiO porous bodies was within the range of 0.51 MPa to 3.35 MPa. As for the conclusion, all the compositions of SiO2 (derived from rice husk) and NiO applied succeeded in the fabrication of SiO2 and SiO2-NiO porous bodies. Furthermore, OPEFB is feasible to be used as a pore-forming agent in producing as-fabricated SiO2 and as-fabricated SiO2-NiO porous bodies with a range from 30-50 wt % and 0.12 mm in size of particles.