Abstract
The non-expandable muscovite was treated with an alkaline salt and modified with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at various concentrations in a cation exchange reaction. Basal spacing, interlamellar structure, morphological structure, and specific surface area (SSA) of this organomuscovite were characterized using X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method. The increase in basal spacing and SSA following lithium nitrate (LiNO3) treatment and organic modification indicates that natural muscovite can be expandable as the number of stacked individual layers keeps decreasing at high CTAB concentrations as suggested by XRD and BET. The appearance of symmetric and asymmetric stretching vibrations in FTIR analysis indicated the presence of the surfactant in muscovite layers. The FESEM organomuscovite formation images confirm the presence of intercalated structures. The present study shows that not only the basal spacing, but also the specific surface area and the number of the stacked individual silicate layers of the organoclay strongly depend on the packing density of the surfactant within the muscovite interlayer space.
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