Extraction of Meso-pores Amorphous SiO2 from Van Pumice

Background: Amorphous silica is widely used in cement and ceramic industry and also for the synthesis of many advanced materials. Method: Generally, it is produced using sol-gel and precipitation method. In the present study, amorphous SiO2 was extracted from acidic pumice collected from Van Basin in Turkey by alkaline treatment method. Result: The identification and chemical compositions of the acidic pumice and the amorphous SiO2 were determined by XRD, FTIR, XRF and BET. Conclusion: The results showed that highly pure amorphous silica powder having a remarkable surface area (358 m2/g) with meso-pore structure was successfully extracted from the acidic pumice samples.