Abstract
Kaolinite clay from Alkaleri Northeast Nigeria was pre-treated and beneficiated using physical process. The treated clay of cation exchange capacity (CEC) 9.5 meq/100 g was modified with cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA-Br) with amount equivalent to and doubled the CEC. The unmodified kaolinite clay (UKC) and the resultant organo-kaolinite clays: monolayer modified clay (MMC) and bilayer modified clay (BMC) were characterized using the following instruments: Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Quantachrome and Thermogravimetric-Differential Thermal Analysis (TG-DTA). EDX profile analysis shows 22.41 % C, 56.17 % O & 10.56 % Al in UKC; 21.06 % C, 55.49 % O & 11.66 % Al in MMC and 18.98 % C, 54.59 % O & 12.14 % Al in BMC respectively; with Fe and K found in MMC. The SEM morphology shows UKC has high porosity and large particles, while MMC and BMC showed fine particles and darker than UKC with textural non-uniformity. TGA curve shows that UKC attains equilibrium decomposition at 997.20 o C with 15.32 % weight loss, MMC 997.30 o C with 32.67 % weight loss and BMC 998.90 o C with 37.23 % weight loss. The revealed weight loss indicates water of hydration and dehydroxylation. The DTA curves show endothermic at 510 o C, 250 o C and 520 o C for UKC, MMC and BMC respectively. The single point surface area was 11.9754 m 2 /g, 3.0132 m 2 /g and 3.8225 m 2 /g for UKC, MMC and BMC with corresponding adsorption average pore width 355.0050 Å, 478.6275 Å and 752.8364 Å respectively. Clay materials being promising minerals when modified can achieve desired surface properties for best performance in adsorption applications.
Highlights
Kaolinite clay mineral in which silicon occupies all the tetrahedral sites and Aluminum two thirds of the octahedral sites, the composition is, where ‘iv’ is used to indicate tetrahedrally coordinated ions and ‘vi’ those octahedrally coordinated [1, 5]
Kaolinite clay mineral has a low-cation exchange capacity (CEC) ranges from 3–15 meq/100 g, the low values probably representative of pure kaolinite and the increase could depend on impurities and particle sizes [4, 8]
Characterization of unmodified and modified kaolinite clays was carried out using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)/Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX), Quantachrome and Thermogravimetric analyzer/differential thermal analyzer (TGA/DTA)
Summary
Kaolinite clay mineral in which silicon occupies all the tetrahedral sites and Aluminum two thirds of the octahedral sites (the remaining third of the sites being vacant), the composition is, where ‘iv’ is used to indicate tetrahedrally coordinated ions and ‘vi’ those octahedrally coordinated [1, 5]. Kaolinite clay mineral in which silicon occupies all the tetrahedral sites and Aluminum two thirds of the octahedral sites (the remaining third of the sites being vacant), the composition is. Earthy and usually white mineral produced by chemical weathering of aluminum silicate minerals like feldspar. It is colored pinkorange-red by iron oxide giving it a distinct appearance [7, 11], the resultant structural formula for one layer unit of Kaolinite clay from Alkaleri, North-Eastern Nigeria is. Kaolinite clay mineral has a low-cation exchange capacity (CEC) ranges from 3–15 meq/100 g, the low values probably representative of pure kaolinite and the increase could depend on impurities and particle sizes [4, 8]. The render layered silicates miscible with polymer matrices, normally hydrophilic silicate surface has to be converted to an organophilic surface to make intercalation of polymeric chain between the silicate layers, this is done by ion-exchange reaction with cationic surfactants [15]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
