Acid-activated Sodium Bentonite and Kaolin Clay: Comparative Study by Physicochemical Properties

Aims and Objective: This paper aims to reveal the useful industrial aspects of kandite and montmorillonite group of clays using as a catalyst after acid activation. A comparative study of modified characteristics of clay samples has been explored based on industrial requirements. Materials and Methods: In this study sodium bentonite and kaolin clay have been focused. The modified characteristics of clay samples are investigated by characterization methods of FT-IR, XRD, SEM/EDAX, TGA and DSC before and after treated with 4M of Hydrochloric acid. Clay samples were refluxed at 105ºC and calcined at 500ºC consecutively for 3 hours at room temperature. Results: Maximum crystalline size 104.02 nm has been evaluated for acid-activated sodium bentonite. Alkyl halides compounds have a strong band position for all samples and have more extent on acid activation. The small numbers of manganese particles have been noticed in the acidactivated samples. 14% of decrement and 61.02% of increment of aluminates have been found respectively for acid-activated kaolin and acid-activated sodium bentonite. Conclusion: The novelty of this study is about sodium bentonite characterization and the results show the prominent behaviour with structural, elemental, morphological, and thermal analysis. Acid-activated kaolin sample has less effect in comparison with acid-activated sodium bentonite. As the removal of the hydroxyl group of compounds has been reported through FT-IR and XRD analysis also some other industries like ceramic and paper industries may have accepted these types of modified minerals for special production with a simple process.