Synthesis and Characterization of Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles

In recent years nanoparticles have gained the attention of researchers due to their transition from micro level to nano level which has resulted in interesting changes in their physicochemical properties. These changes are mainly attributed to their small size which leads to an increased surface to volume ratio and quantum confinement effects. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to synthesize and characterize Silicon Dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles using appropriate standard procedures. Data obtained show that UV-vis analysis of SiO2 has an absorption peak at wavelength 200-300 nm with a ban gap energy of 4.2 eV. These peaks indicate that SiO2 has been formed. The FTIR results revealed the Si-O-Si bonds which indicated the presence of silica, the O-H and H2O are functional groups, and this confirms the presence of SiO2 nanoparticles. The XRD results of analysis, based on the diffraction pattern, demonstrated that the nanoparticles have an amorphous nature, due to their tendency to agglomerate. Also, based on the calculation carried out using Debye-Scherer‟s equation, the SiO2 has the size of 0.0141 nm. The SEM-EDX results, the images at different magnifications revealed that SiO2 nanoparticles form a large-size “combination” (clusters). The presence of oxygen in the EDX result indicates the formation of silica as silicon dioxide.