Elemental Characterization of Rice Husk Ash from Local Rice Species in South Eastern Nigeria
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Elemental Characterization of Rice Husk Ash from Local Rice Species in South Eastern Nigeria Paul S. Ogbuefi1 · Placid Nwaokafor2 · Ifeanyi J. Njoku2 · Ogechukwu J. Uzuegbunam3 Received: 30 June 2020 / Accepted: 28 September 2020 © The Tunisian Chemical Society and Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Heavy metals such as Cr, Zn, As, Pb and Cu can be hazardous to health and the environment. The focus of this study is to investigate the trace metal constituents of rice husk ash (RHA) from Ikwo and Izzi rice clusters. RHA of Izzi CP, R8 and Ikwo CP rice husk species were sampled. Elemental characterization was done using X-ray fluorescence method. A total of 14 elements (K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, As, Br, Sr and Ga) were detected in the rice husk species except in Izzi CP where Ga was not detected. The concentration of these elements in weight percent (wt. %) were compared with literature. Elements like, K, Ca, Fe, and Mn were found to be in negligible concentrations in all the samples while Ga, Rb, Cu, Cr, Zn, As and Ni were found to be well above the literature values. The X-ray fluorescence analysis of the samples showed that some toxic heavy metals like Cr, As, Ni, and Cu were of high concentrations compared to literature which for health reasons are not advisable to have long term exposure. Keywords Rice · Rice husk (RH) · Rice husk ash (RHA) · X-ray fluorescence · Heavy metals · Trace elements
1 Introduction Rice is one of the most consumed cereals in the world. In Nigeria, in particular, it is the most prominent source of carbohydrate for most Nigerian homes. Due to this fact, rice farming has been on the increase in most parts of the country especially in southern Nigeria. The food and agricultural organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that, about 740 million tons of rice were produced worldwide in 2016 [1]. An important bye-product of the rice production * Ifeanyi J. Njoku [email protected] Paul S. Ogbuefi [email protected] Placid Nwaokafor [email protected] Ogechukwu J. Uzuegbunam [email protected] 1
Department of Chemistry, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria
2
Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
3
Department of Computer Engineering, Caritas University, Caritas, Enugu State, Nigeria
is rice husk, which is considered as an agricultural waste and usually burnt in open air to produce rice husk ash which consists mainly of silica (> 90%) [2]. Rice husk ash (RHA) is a product that results from the burning of rice husk. Combustion of rice husk under controlled conditions leads to the productions of rice husk ash containing almost pure silica and other impurities [2]. Due to its high silica content, RHA is a pozzolanic material [3]. In Refs.[4, 5], it is reported that RHA may be used as filler in polymer composites or as an adsorbent and reinforcing agent. The ecological circumstances of its origin and the process applied for burning the husk influences the
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