Comparison of acids for silica extraction from wheat bran

Abstract

The production of building materials degrades the environment, thus, an attempt is made to alternative source of raw material for the production of materials such as refractory bricks, or as an addition to the Portland cement production process. Therefore, this work aims to analyze the feasibility of silica extraction, obtained by burning wheat bran. Initially, laboratory analyzes involved two methods for extracting silicon from wheat bran with four acidic types (acetic, hydrochloric, sulfuric and citrus), the first method being washing in an acidic environment, followed by drying in the oven and burning in a type oven muffle, the second method followed the steps of burning in the muffle, drying and acid bath, totaling eight samples. The silica obtained was analyzed using X-ray dispersive energy (EDS), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The results with the thermal, physical and chemical treatment show that the wheat bran ash obtained, among the samples, the highest percentage of 30.55% of silicon, remaining predominantly in its amorphous state. In view of the results, it can be noted that the generation of silica from the ash of the wheat bran becomes an alternative source.