Escaping the Tyranny of Carbothermal Reduction: Fumed Silica from Sustainable, Green Sources without First Having to Make SiCl4

Fumed silica is produced in 1000 tons per year quantities by combusting SiCl4 in H2/O2 flames. Given that both SiCl4 and combustion byproduct HCl are corrosive, toxic and polluting, this route to fumed silica requires extensive safeguards that may be obviated if an alternate route were found. Silica...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemistry : a European journal 2016-02, Vol.22 (7), p.2257-2260
Main Authors: Yi, Eongyu, Hyde, Clare E., Sun, Kai, Laine, Richard M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alkoxysilanes
Ash
Chemical industry
Chemistry
Containment
Depolymerization
Diols
flame spray pyrolysis
fumed silica
green chemistry
Pyrolysis
rice hull ash
Silica
Silica fume
Silicon dioxide
Silicon tetrachloride
Silicones
spirocyclic alkoxysilanes
Spray pyrolysis
Sustainability
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Summary:Fumed silica is produced in 1000 tons per year quantities by combusting SiCl4 in H2/O2 flames. Given that both SiCl4 and combustion byproduct HCl are corrosive, toxic and polluting, this route to fumed silica requires extensive safeguards that may be obviated if an alternate route were found. Silica, including rice hull ash (RHA) can be directly depolymerized using hindered diols to generate distillable spirocyclic alkoxysilanes or Si(OEt)4. We report here the use of liquid‐feed flame spray pyrolysis (LF‐FSP) to combust the aforementioned precursors to produce fumed silica very similar to SiCl4‐derived products. The resulting powders are amorphous, necked,
ISSN:0947-6539
1521-3765
DOI:10.1002/chem.201505056