Spectroscopic analysis of Crescent Island Crater sand from Lake Naivasha, Kenya by XRF, FT-IR and XRD
Keywords:
Crescent Island Crater, XRD, Quartz, XRFAbstract
The present work investigates the chemical properties of natural sand obtained from Crescent Island Crater in Lake Naivasha catchment, Kenya. Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) spectroscopic analysis was performed. The XRD results showed that quartz (SiO2), calcite (CaCO3), clinochlore ((Mg, Fe)6(Si, Al)4O10(OH)8)) and microcline (K (Al, Fe) Si3O8) are the main components of the raw sand. The XRF analysis confirmed that silica (SiO2), reaching upto 66.89 ± 0.41 % was the main component of the sand sample with very low quantities of CaO, Fe2O3, MgO, K2O and Al2O3 (< 10 %). The FT-IR results corroborate the presence of siloxane (Si-O-Si) as an important functional group of quartz in the raw sand sample. The findings of the study reveals that the sand from the region is an important resource for sourcing quartz as a primary material for vast industrial applications.
References
S. Benchaa, R. Gheriani, A. Achouri, H. Bouguettaia, M. Mechri, “Structural characterizations of dune sand and construction sand of Sidi Slimane and Zaouia El Abidia areas in the Touggourt region in southeast Algeria”. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, Vol. 14, No. 22, pp. 1-11, 2021.
N. Meftah, M. Mahboub, “Spectroscopic Characterizations of sand dunes minerals of El-Oued (Northeast Algerian Sahara) by FTIR, XRF and XRD analyses”. Silicon, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 147-153, 2019.
K. Jallad, C. Espada-Jallad, “Spectroscopic characterization of geological materials from the United Arab Emirates”. Arab Journal of Geoscience, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 119-127, 2008.
A. Chandrasekaran, C. Kumar, V. Sathish, S. Manigandan, A. Tamilarasi, “Effect of minerals and heavy metals in sand samples of Ponnai river, Tamil Nadu, India”. Scientific Reports, Vol. 11, pp. 1-15, 2021.
F. Crundwell, “On the mechanism of the dissolution of quartz and silica in aqueous solutions”. ACS Omega, Vol. 2, pp. 1116-1127, 2017.
K. Zouaouid, R. Gheriani, “Mineralogical analysis of sand roses and sand dunes samples from two regions of South Algeria”. Silicon, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 1537-1545, 2018.
S. Ndung’u, E. Nthiga, R. Wanjau, “Characterization of amorphous silicon nitride prepared from sand and coffee husk wastes by carbothermal reduction-nitridation”. African Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 24-34, 2023.
N. Mahdadi, S. Chihi, H. Bouguettaia, S. Beddiaf, M. Mechri, “Chromatic classification of Ouargla (Algeria) dunes sand: Determination of main compositions and color causes, by using XRD, FTIR and XRF”. Silicon, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 211-221, 2016.
S. Beddiaf, S. Chihi, Y. Leghrieb, “The determination of some crystallographic parameters of quartz, in the sand dunes of Ouargla, Algeria”. Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 106, pp. 129-133, 2015.
S. Ndung’u, R. Wanjau, E. Nthiga, “Facile extraction and characterization of silica nanopowder from marine national park beach sand via alkali fusion route”. International Journal of Technology, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 1-6, 2023.
X. Zhang, M. Lu, M. Idrus, C. Crombie, V. Jegatheesan, “Performance of precipitation and electrocoagulation as pretreatment of silica removal in brackish water and seawater”. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, Vol. 126, pp. 18-24, 2019.
A. Boualem, L. Leontie, S. Lopera, S. Hamzaoui, “Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous silica from Algerian river sand for solar grade silicon: Effect of alkaline concentration on the porosity and purity of silica powder”. Silicon, Vol. 14, No. 10, pp. 5231-5240, 2021.
A. Azzahra, E. Yusefin, G. Salima, M. Mudita, N. Febriani, A. Nandiyanto, “Synthesis of nanosilica materials from various sources using various methods”. Journal of Applied Science and Environmental Studies, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 254-278, 2020.
S. Boussaa, A. Kheloufi, N. Zaourar, “Sand dune characterization for preparing metallurgical grade silicon”. Open Chem, Vol. 16, pp. 1227-1232, 2018.
M. Abdelhak, K. Ahmed, B. Abdelkader, Z. Brahim, K. Rachid, “Algerian Sahara sand dunes characterization”. Silicon, Vol. 6, pp. 149-154, 2014.
C. Maina, J.K. Sang, J.M. Raude, B.M. Mutua, “Geochronological and spatial distribution of heavy metal contamination in sediment from Lake Naivasha, Kenya”. Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 37-54, 2019.
T. Meeren, E, Ito, K. Laird, B. Cumming, D. Verschuren, D. “Ecohydrological evolution of Lake Naivasha (central Rift Valley, Kenya) during the past 1650 years, as recorded by ostracod assemblages and stable-isotope geochemistry”. Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 223, pp. 1-58, 2019.
G. Olando, L. Olaka, P. Okinda, P. Abuom, “Heavy metals in surface sediments of Lake Naivasha, Kenya: spatial distribution, source identification and ecological risk assessment”. SN Applied Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 279-292, 2020.
S. Dubey, S. Sharma, A. Diwakar, S. Pandey, “Structural characterization and optical properties of monoclinic Ba2MgSi2O7 (BMS) phosphor. International Journal of Scientific Research in Physics and Applied Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 81-85, 2021.
N. Meftah, A. Hani, A. Merdas, “Extraction and physicochemical characterization of highly-pure amorphous silica nanoparticles from locally available dunes sand”. Chemistry Africa, Vol. 6, pp. 1-10, 2023.
S. Sharma, S. Dubey, A. Diwakar, S. Pandey, “Structural characterization and luminescence properties of Ca2MgSi2O7 (CMS) phosphor. International Journal of Scientific Research in Physics and Applied Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 49-53, 2021.
R. Hachem, N. Meftah, A. Bouaziz, “A comparative analysis of the microstructural and physicochemical properties of alluvial and dune sands from northeast Algerian Sahara”. The Journal of Engineering and Exact Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 1-14, 2023.
Andriayani, Y. Muis, D. Nasution, “Chemical reduction of silica into silicon from extracted quartz sand using sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid solutions”. AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 2342, No. 1, pp. 1-6, 2021.
N. Gandhi, S. Laxmi, D. Reddy, C. Vijaya, “Microwave mediated green synthesis of silica nanoparticles, Characterization, antimicrobial activity, promising applications in agriculture”. World Academics Journal of Engineering Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp.1-15, 2022.
H. El-Didamony, E. El-Fadaly, A. Amer, I. Abazeed, “Synthesis and characterization of low cost nanosilica from sodium silicate solution and their applications in ceramic engobes”. Journal of the Spanish Ceramic and Glass Society, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 31-43, 2020.

Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors contributing to this journal agree to publish their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, allowing third parties to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it, under the condition that the authors are given credit and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are made clear.