Synthesis of Silica Nanoparticles from Silica Sand via Vibration Assisted Alkaline Solution Method

The effect of frequency of speaker membrane vibration on the grain size of the silica nanoparticles (SNP) was investigated. SNP was synthesized using the alkaline fusion method under the vibration of the membrane speaker. Variations of membrane vibration used in this research were 0, 50, 100, and 200 Hz. The material compositions, crystal structure, and morphology of the synthesized SNP were characterized using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. Meanwhile, its dielectric property was determined using impedance spectroscopy. The results showed that the SNP consisted of 99.35% silica and corresponded to the crystalline structure of quartz silica. The SNP size was decreased with increasing vibration frequencies. The smallest size of SNP (9.04±1.9 nm) was obtained at a frequency of 200 Hz. Moreover, the dielectric constant and dielectric losses were increased with an increase in membrane vibration frequency due to the decrease of SNP size.