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Wheat is a very important agricultural product, and is among the grains that has the highest sustenance value in the world. Every year large amounts of wheat hull is produced which has a low economic value. The present study aimed to characterize the structure of wheat hull and wheat hull ash obtained after burning wheat hull at 400 to 1000 °C for 5 h. This study also investigated the potential of wheat hull as a source for the production of silica xerogel. X-ray diffraction patterns, scanning electron microscope micrographs, the chemical properties, the particle morphology, particle size, surface chemistry of wheat hull, wheat hull ash, and its silica xerogels were determined by the use of various instruments and analysis techniques. A temperature of 700 °C was found to be the optimum ashing temperature with maximum amorphous silica content. The BET surface area of ashes ranged from 7.21 to 0.11 m 2 /g. The study demonstrated that silica xerogel powder with 93.9% silica content was obtained by the use of wheat hull after heat treating at 700 °C for 5 h.

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In the present study, magnesium silicate was produced by using wheat husk ash. Wheat husk was burned at 600 °C to obtain an amorphous ash structure, and the ash was processed with sodium hydroxide solution with heat to extract silica. Sodium silicate solution and magnesium salts were used to synthesize magnesium silicate. The present study investigates effects of the feeding rate on magnesium silicate production (0.6 mL/min, 35 mL/min, 70 mL/min), the type of magnesium salt (MgSO 4 • 7H 2 O or MgCl 2 • 6H 2 O), temperature (25 °C or 50 °C), and the washing agent (water and acetone) on the chemical composition and surface characteristics of magnesium silicate. The results demonstrated that all of the variables affected the surface characteristics of magnesium silicate, such as surface area, particle size, and pore volume. However, it was also observed that the studied parameters did not affect the chemical composition of magnesium silicate. The wheat husk ash-based magnesium silicates obtained in the experimental study had a BET surface area ranging from 79 to 91 m 2 /g and a particle size varying from 42 to 63 µm.