Evaluation of the performance of the Acanthophyllum laxiusculum concentrate for the synthesis of silica nanoparticles by using the sol-gel method

In present research, silica nano-particles were synthesized by using the sol-gel method from Tetraethyl orthosilicate in presence of Acanthophyllum laxiusculum concentrate. This is a natural surface active compound extracted from an indigenous plant species. The size and morphology of particles were investigated by use of SEM and TEM images. Indeed, nanoparticles were more characterized by FTIR, XRD and BET analyses. They exhibited quite irregular spherical structures with average diameters of 100 nm. Their crystallography analysis showed the amorphous structure as the prominent phase. Specific area was determined as 146.97m2/g. The results were compared to the particles synthesized without surfactant agent and/or in presence of chemical surfactant. Observations showed that Acanthophyllum concentrate resulted in increase of specific area of nano-particles in above-mentioned system. Consequently, Acanthophyllum concentrate presented great potential to be proposed to nano-synthesis industry to acquire the benefits of green chemistry approach; however, more studies need to be made in this area to remove the defects and deficiencies.