RHA material was successfully synthesized from the
abundant Vietnamese rice husk. A new synthetic
method for spherical silica nanoparticles using RHA as
the silica source and CTAB as the surfactant via the sol–
gel technique in water/butanol was investigated. This
method is a simple and effective route for preparing
ultrafine powders on a nanometer scale and with a
homogeneous particle size distribution. The specific surface
area is reached at 340 m2/g, and the silica product
obtained is amorphous. This leads to the low-cost production
of silica nanoparticles for various practical applications
such as pollution treatment, nanocomposite
materials, etc. Furthermore, using this source for the
production of RHA provides a way to solve the waste
problem of rice husk pollution in the Mekong Delta of
Vietnam.