A simple method to the preparation of SiO2 microspheres from rice husks (RH) was developed. The rice husks were extracted with 2 M NaOH solution to obtain a extract contained silica and lignin, and silica spheres were obtained after addition of distilled water, ethanol, 1 M H2SO4 and PEG (W-silica:W-PEG = 2:1) to the extract in a controllable sol-gel process and calcination at 550 degrees C. The optimum synthesis conditions were, adjustment of the extract to pH 3, a volume ratio of 1:1:2 of ethanol, water, and extract, respectively and a silica to polyethylene glycol weight ratio of 2:1. The SiO2 microspheres produced under these conditions exhibited a relatively uniform particle size distribution around 500 nm as determined by LPSA, which indicated a cooperative function of added PEG and extracted lignin towards the formation of SiO2 microspheres. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.