Phase and Electrical Properties of Rice Husk Silica-based Na2FeSiO4 Precursors Sintered at High Temperature

Abstract

The aim of this work is to characterize the phase and electrical properties of Na2FeSiO4 precursor synthesized by the sol-gel technique and then sintering with a holding period of 10 h. The FTIR analysis indicates the presence of Na-O, Fe-O, Si-O and Si-O-Si groups. Their phases were analyzed using XRD coupled with qualitative and quantitative analysis. Meanwhile, the electrical properties were characterized using UV-Vis DRS and LCR meter. The phase analysis revealed that the samples were dominated by SiO2 and Na2FeSiO4 and were followed by Fe2O3, Fe2SiO4 and Na2SiO3. There was no substantial differences in phase composition over the sintering temperature range of 805-815 ºC. However, the volume of cell units in each phase increased gradually with an increase in sintering temperature and was followed by the increasing electrical conductivity of the samples.