Silica Basics

Silica is one of the most abundant materials in nature. It can be found in an amorphous form, for example in plants like grasses or even in cereal straw. In the amorphous form, the internal structure is randomized.
Silica can also be a crystalline form like in quartz, in rocks, or in sand. This crystalline form is characterized by a grid-like internal structure.

Synthetic Amorphous Silica (SAS) is an industrially produced silica with this randomized internal structure. All grades of Evonik Silica fall into the category of SAS. Therefore on this webpage, the term "Evonik silica" or "Silica from Evonik" always refers to Synthetic Amorphous Silica (SAS).

The manufacturing process for Synthetic Amorphous Silica (SAS) converts the rather inhomogeneous natural raw material into a product with a constantly high quality and numerous advantages, which can be used for a wide spectrum of specific applications. We constantly control and maintain the quality and safety of the ingredient SAS.

Evonik Silica are produced by two production processes:

In one production process a precursor for the silica is dosed into a hydrogen/oxygen flame where the silica is formed at very high temperatures. Silica grades produced according to this process are called fumed silica. Evonik's brand name for fumed silica is AEROSIL®.

In another production process silica is precipitated from an aqueous solution of waterglass. Silica produced by this process are called precipitated silica. Evonik's brand names for precipitated silica are SIPERNAT®, ULTRASIL®, ZEODENT® and ZEOFREE®.

Evonik is one of the leading manufacturer of silica. With over 70 years of experience in producing and marketing Synthetic Amorphous Silica (SAS), our products stand for safety and precision.

All Evonik silica products worldwide are produced in compliance with strict quality standards, and Evonik goes to great lengths to ensure that this compliance is maintained. For example, all production sites are certified to the ISO 9001 quality management system, as are all research and application sites. more