Abstract
Samples of Egyptian glauconitic material from El Gidida area were investigated. The characterization study included the mineralogical and chemical composition, crystal morphology, surface area and porosity. The effect of heat treatment and acid activation on the surface area, pore volume and microporosity of glauconitic clay was also investigated. Data obtained by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, reveal that the studied glauconitic material is di-octahedral with an iron-rich illite-smectite mixed layer composed of a range of expandable layers (<10 to 40%), in addition to variable percentages of kaolin and quartz. As the relative amounts of kaolin and quartz increased, illite-smectite mixed layers decreased. Low K 2 O content in glauconitic material is related to the composition of the parental glaucony mineral phase as well as to destabilization of glauconite. Morphologically, glauconite pellets consist of spheroidal aggregates of very fine particles, arranged parallel to each other, and separated by debris. However, many of the platelets are bent and curly, generating numerous mesopores. The surface area and pore volume ranged between 80-147 m 2 /g and 0.164-0.341 cm 3 /g, respectively. Details of the above characterization studies are given in this paper.
Published Version
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