| dc.description.abstract | Sugarcane bagasse South Africa is an agricultural waste that poses many environmental
and human health problems. Sugarcane bagasse dumps attract many insects that harm the health
of the population and cause many diseases. Sugarcane ash is a naturally renewable source of silica.
This study presents for the first time the extraction of nanosilica from sugar cane bagasse ash using
L-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate acid and Tetrapropylammonium Hydroxide. The structural,
morphological, and chemical properties of the extracted silica nanoparticles was cross examined
using XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TGA. SEM analysis presents agglomerates of irregular sizes. It is possible
to observe the structure of nanosilica formed by the presence of agglomerates of irregular shapes,
as well as the presence of some spherical particles distributed in the structure. XRD analysis has
revealed 2 angles at 20, 26, 36, 39, 50, and 59 which shows that each peak on the xrd pattern is
indicative of certain crystalline cubic phases of nanosilica, similar to results reported in the literature
by Jagadesh et al. in 2015. | en_US |
