CHARACTERIZATION OF ACIDIC AND ALKALI TREATED KAOLINITE AND MONTMORILLONITE CLAY FROM ADAMAWA AND...

The goal of this research is to investigate the effects of sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxid on two types of natural clays from Cameroon's two regions. Three concentrations of sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide were used to activate kaolinite clay from Wak and montmorillonite clay from Maroua, respectively. This work used elemental chemical analysis, X-Ray Diffractometry, IR Spectroscopy, and gas adsorption-desorption measurement to evaluate the influence of H2SO4 and NaOH activation on the composition, structure, and surface properties of several clay minerals. The extent of cations dissolution and exchange was investigated by analysing the chemical compositions of raw clays and activated clays at various acid and alkali concentrations. Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) was discovered to decrease when acid and alkali concentrations increased. The BET specific surface area of the montmorillonite and kaolinite clays increases as the concentration of sulfuric acid increases from 0.5M to 2M, but alkali treatment of the same clays has the opposite effect. For untreated montmorillonite and montmorillonite treated with H2SO4 2 M, the specific surface increased from 79m2/g to 99m2/g, respectively. Acid treatment causes a significant change in mineral crystal structure, as seen by typical peaks lowering on the patterns, suggesting a decrease in the regularity of the mineral structure of the studied clays.

Please see the link :- https://www.ikprress.org/index.php/JACSI/article/view/3614