Abstract
The clay was modified by an ion exchange reaction with cetylpyridinium chloride CPC and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide HDTMA. The modified samples were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The basal spacing of unmodified clay determined by XRD was 12.72 Å and, after modification, increased with increasing concentration; expressed as a function of the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the clay; to reach 21.08 and 26 Å for clays modified with CPC and HDTMA successively for an equal concentration of 3CEC. FTIR studies revealed structural differences between modified and unmodified clay samples. Modified clay spectra showed C–N functional bands (1480 cm−1) and C–H vibrations (near 2936 and 2871 cm−1). The results of the SEM study reveal a difference between natural and modified clays. The purified clay has massive and curved plates. However, the modified clays show numerous small aggregate particles and plaques that become relatively flat. The arrangement of surfactants in clay is rather complicated. It depends on the nature of the surfactant molecules, the CEC of the clay and the method of preparation. According to these parameters, the inserted surfactants may be arranged in monolayer, paraffinic or admicelles structures.
Highlights
There has been growing interest in the development of innovative adsorbent materials to solve the problem of industrial wastewater pollution (Nejib et al 2014; Ltifi et al 2017; Nahed and Kais 2015)
Natural clays are considered among the available materials such as montmorillonite which is widely used as adsorbents because of the high cation exchange capacity (CEC), so that their swelling properties are high (Ayari et al 2005)
The prepared organoclays were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area measurement (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
Summary
There has been growing interest in the development of innovative adsorbent materials to solve the problem of industrial wastewater pollution (Nejib et al 2014; Ltifi et al 2017; Nahed and Kais 2015). Natural clays are considered among the available materials such as montmorillonite which is widely used as adsorbents because of the high cation exchange capacity (CEC), so that their swelling properties are high (Ayari et al 2005). Mixed “clay-surfactant” systems are of great interest for industrial applications. Nowadays, they are used in various fields as thickeners in inks, in the preparation of nanoparticle. The hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide HDTMA intercalated in Na-montmorillonite has a paraffin-type monolayer arrangement parallel to the basal montmorillonite spacing. With the increase in the concentration of surfactants hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and cetylpyridinium chloride (0–3 CEC) in montmorillonite (Tahani et al 1999), the adsorption of the cationic surfactant has been widely studied for several types of clay such as montmorillonite
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