Silica nano-particles produced by worms through a bio-digestion process of rice husk

It is reported the production and characterization of silica nano-particles by Californian-red worms through a bio-digestion process of rice husk; the rice husk contains, naturally, high concentrations of silica (22%). The worms were fed gradually with rice husk and water during 5 months to clean the worm’s digestive system from other types of food. The humus was collected, dried at room temperature, pH neutralized and calcined at different temperatures (500, 600 and 700 °C) to remove the organic matter. The calcined humus was digested to remove traces of inorganic compounds. The size of the silica particles was in the range from 55 to 250 nm depending on calcination temperatures. The efficiency in the production of the particles was 88%. These results were compared with those obtained using other agro-industrial wastes that contain silica: coffee (12%) and cane (8%) husk. The samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, EDS, DLS, SEM and TEM.