Valorization of sugarcane by-products through synthesis of biogenic amorphous silica microspheres for sustainable cosmetics

• Autor(a) principal: Costa, Joana R.
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Capeto, Ana Paula, Pereira, Carla F., Pedrosa, Sílvia S., Mota, Inês F., Burgal, João da Silva, Pintado, Ana I., Pintado, Manuela E., Oliveira, Catarina S. S., Costa, Patrícia, Madureira, Ana Raquel
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/39668
• topic: Amorphous silica; Circular economy; Cosmetic ingredient; Process development; Spherical microparticles

Ashes from sugarcane by-product incineration were used to synthesize silica powders through alkaline hot extraction, followed by ethanol/acid precipitation or the sol–gel method. Both production methods allowed amorphous spherical silica microparticles with sizes ranging from 1–15 μm and 97% purity to be obtained. Water absorption ranged from 135–155 mL/100 g and 150–250 mL/100 g for precipitated silica and silica gel, respectively, while oil absorption ranged from 305 to 390 and from 250 to 350 mL/100 g. The precipitation with ethanol allowed the recovery of 178 g silica/kg ash, with a lab process cost of EUR 28.95/kg, while the sol-gel process showed a yield of 198 g silica/kg ash with a cost of EUR 10.89/kg. The experimental data suggest that ash from sugarcane by-products is a promising source to be converted into a competitive value-added product, minimizing the environmental impact of disposal problems.