Mitigation of silica-rich wastes: An alternative to the synthesis eco-friendly silica-based mesoporous materials

Abstract

The synthesis of nano-architectured mesoporous materials is of great importance for the sciences of multifunctional materials, since the textural and structural features of mesoporous silicas allows its application in the most different areas of technological knowledge. In view of growing interest of the scientific community in the use of silica-based mesoporous materials, as well as the environmental concern of obtaining advanced materials through increasingly cleaner, low-cost, and eco-friendly processes, this review aims to give an overview in the literature of main alternative silica sources that have been used to synthetize the silica-based mesoporous arrays. Also, we present what are the main applications of these mesoparticles. We can highlight that the main mesoporous materials studied in the literature are those of the M41S, SBA- n , FDU- n , and KIT- n families, which presented well-structured silica-based mesoporous materials with different pore geometries and architectures. Thus, allowing the application of these architectured materials in different scientific areas. The synthesis of silicon-based mesoporous materials has been increasingly sought from the use of low-cost and eco-friendly silica sources from the reuse of industrial wastes, in an attempt to minimize the possible impacts on the environment and human health of inadequate disposal of these wastes. Based on our literature review, the main alternative silica sources that are being used for the synthesis of silica-based mesoporous materials are rice hush ash, wheat husk ash, palm oil fuel ash, Miscanthus ash, e-waste, coal ash, reed ash, sedge ash, Carex riparia, sugarcane ash, bamboo leaf ash, natural clay, ore tailing, and others. Sustainable and renewable silica sources used in the preparation of the eco-friendly silica-based mesoporous materials and their environmental applications. • Sustainable silica sources are used in the preparation of mesoporous materials. • Silica-based mesoporous arrays have multifunctional properties. • Eco-friendly mesoporous arrays are highly efficient for use in environmental sciences. • Nanostructured mesoporous materials have different pore geometries and architectures. • The use of low-cost and eco-friendly silica sources is of environmental importance.