Abstract
The article aims to verify the possibility of obtaining an organic–inorganic material acting as both a binder and a lustrous carbon carrier in bentonite-bonded molding sands. Due to the wide industrial application, organoclays can be considered as innovative materials supporting the foundry technology in meeting environmental requirements. In this study, the organic modification of montmorillonite in calcium bentonite (SN) was performed by poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and its sodium salt (PAA/Na). Additionally, for the purpose of comparison, the sodium-activated bentonite/poly(acrylic acid) (SN-Na/PAA) composites were also prepared. The collective analysis of the research results used in the assessment of the mineral/polymer interaction mechanism indicates surface adsorption combined with the intercalation of PAA monolayer into the mineral interlayer spaces. Materials were characterized by the combination of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) methods. Based on the XRD analysis, the influence of PAA/Na on the aluminosilicate layered structure was found to be destructive, which may adversely affect the binding properties of SN/PAA/Na composites considered as a potential group of new foundry binders. The SN/PAA and SN-Na/PPA composites (with appropriate polymer content) can act as a binding agent in the synthetic molding sand technology, despite coating the bentonite particles with polymer molecules. The risk of losing the mineral′s binding capacity is reduced by the good binding properties of pol(acrylic acid) itself. The article is the first stage (preceding the thermal analysis and the strength tests of molding sands with the prepared organobentonites) in determining the possibility of obtaining a new full-value foundry binder in molding sands with bentonite.
Highlights
Ongoing materials science and material engineering development call for the constant efficiency improvement of modification processes of well-known materials
The article aims to verify the possibility of obtaining a material capable of binding the mineral matrix grains in molding sand technology, which could act as a lustrous carbon carrier
The paper presents a combined experimental study of two-component composites based on calcium bentonite modified with poly(acrylic acid) and poly(acrylic acid) sodium salt
Summary
Ongoing materials science and material engineering development call for the constant efficiency improvement of modification processes of well-known materials. It is a binder based on modification with graphite and zeolite sodium bentonite (not a mixture but a structurally changed form of the mineral). The attempt to develop a new, less complex binder in the technology of synthetic molding sands in the form of organically modified bentonite, acting at the same time as a substitute for popular carbon additives, is an innovative approach to solving the problem of their harmfulness based on the high-temperature behavior of selected hydrophilic polymers. The adsorption properties with the specific surface area of composites were determined performing BET nitrogen adsorption measurements
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