Synthesis of precipitated silica from bagasse ash as reinforcing filler in rubber

Abstract

Bagasse ash as waste material from the sugarcane industry is causing disposal problems. This paper study on the use of silica from bagasse ash as reinforcing filler in rubber. Precipitated silica was obtained from bagasse ash through a sol precipitation method. Process parameters such as time of addition of secondary sodium silicate, pH and temperature, were studied. The synthesized silica was characterized by XRF, XRD, and PSA. XRF and XRD test results showed that the precipitated silica contained 4.9% of alumina and had an amorphous structure, respectively. PSA result showed that the synthesized precipitated silica and a commercial reinforcing filler had a comparable aggregate/agglomerate size distribution after 10 minutes sonication. The yield of silica recovered from bagasse ash was found to vary between 41.7% and 58.2%.