Assessment of Chemical Composition of Rice Husk Using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Technique from Kano State, North Western Nigeria

Abstract

Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Technique was used to study the chemical compositions of rice husk in four selected Local Governments, namely-Wudil, Tofa, Kura and Rano of Kano State, Nigeria. Rice husk is the edible part of the paddy and one of the major agricultural wastes that has the potential to produce chemical composition which can be useful in manufacturing industries. The samples were obtained during dry season and grounded into powdered form and irradiated with X-rays, the X-rays interact with individual atoms of the samples, and these atoms respond by producing their own X-rays whose energy levels and abundance are different for each element. Fourteen compounds were revealed in all the rice husk samples which are; SO₃, P₂O₃, SrO,BrO, ZnO, CuO, NiO, Fe₂O₃, MnO, CaO, K₂O, Rb₂O, Cl, SiO₂. Herein, Rano rice husk has fourteen elements with one below detection limit (BDL) and the rest Wudil, Kura, Tofa have ten elements detected. The concentration of SiO₂, K₂O, CaO and Fe₂O₃, which were the major elements in the samples (in %), ranged from (82.12to 78.84), (12.964 to 7.0227), (6.0753 to 4.518) and (2.3725 to 1.50716) for all the four samples respectively. Likewise, the concentration of the following (in %) constitutes the minor elements; MnO, NiO, ZnO, Rb₂O, SrO and CuO were within the range of (0.705 to 05122), (0.2103 to 0.0147), (0.1838 to 0.01547), (0.73 to 0.023), (0.04586 to 0.017608) and (0.04034 to 0.008503) respectively. In % P₂O₃(27.038), Cl(0.4766), SO₃(3.79704) and BrO (1.3992) are the new elements which were discovered in Rano sample and are not common in other findings and are very useful as raw material in production industries.