Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica From Beach Sand Using Variation of Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide (CTAB)

The potential for sand in Indonesia is very abundant because Indonesia has a long coastline than other countries. This research was conducted to explore the potential of beach sand as an alternative raw material to replace commercial silica. To obtain the natural silica, the beach sand was prepared and extracted into mesoporous silica. The reflux method was chosen to extract silica using NaOH solution, HCl solution, and CTAB surfactant. The mesoporous structure was potentially affected by CTAB and SiO2 ratio, and therefore, this research was focused more on the effect of CTAB weight variation (3; 4,5 and 6 g). Several instruments were used to analyze the characteristics of silica, such as Surface Area Analyzer (SAA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The mesoporous silica has siloxane (Si-O-Si) and silanol (SiOH) functional group and showed a coral reef-like structure. The porosity properties of these materials ranging from 300-385 m2/g for the specific surface area, 5-8.8 nanometer for pore diameter, and 0.4-0.8 cm3/g for pore volume. Optimal CTAB weight found to be at 6 g, which produces the mesoporous silica with a surface area of 385.928 m2/g, an average pore diameter of 6.015 nanometers, and pore volume of 0.579 cm3/g.