Abstract
The palygorskite or attapulgite is a mineral clay of fibrous habits, a phyllosilicate 2:1, presented by the formula Mg5[Si8O20](OH)2(OH2)4.4H2O. Taking advantage of this natural resource available in the State of Piauí, this research aims at incorporating the zirconium oxide to the surface of this clay, through the sol-gel method, in order to evaluate the photoactivity of the composite. The material was characterized by the X-ray diffractometry (XRD), indicating the presence of the zirconium oxide, with the emergence of peaks in 30.8° and 60.9°. It was observed the incorporation of zirconium on the clay by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and verified the fibrous habit and the presence of ZrO2 on the surface of the clay with 1.35% of incorporated zirconium and 127.4 m2 g-1. The rate of degradation of the Remazol Blue dye was 93.5% when using the composite.
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