Differences in coating mechanism of structurally different aluminosilicates observed through the thermal analysis

Abstract

Systematic modification of three structurally different minerals (zeolite, mica, and vermiculite) was carried out with the aim of determining the modification mechanism and exposing the hydrophobic surface that can be used as a sorbent for many organic compounds. Mechanism of modification with cationic surfactant depends strongly on the mineral type. In order to identify the influence of aluminosilicates structural differences on the modification process, adsorption experiments with organic matter and water vapor, supplemented with the DTA/TG analysis, were performed. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) value was 1454 > 560 > 28 meq kg−1 for zeolite (clinoptilolite), vermiculite, and mica (muscovite), respectively. Despite its CEC value, vermiculite adsorbed three times the amount of organic matter than did clinoptilolite due to the porous structure of zeolite, which acted to limit the adsorption only on the external exchangeable cations. If the loading amount is equal to the CEC or the external cation exchange capacity for clinoptilolite (ECEC ≈ 10% CEC), the monolayer will form while mineral surface will have hydrophobic character. Only one active center exists at the surface of the clinoptilolite that was identified by DTA curves with a sharp and defined peak around 300 °C and by the mass loss at the TG diagrams. Two significant and equal active centers were observed in vermiculite, one for the exchange of the surface cations and the other for the interlayer cations and H2O molecules. Muscovite CEC is negligible, and due to the absence of any other functional groups, the modification of this mineral was impossible.