Author(s)

Rima Alomari^1*, Muayed Esaifan², Mohammed Khair Hourani¹, Hiba Al Amayreh³, Mohammed Amayreh¹, Hani Khoury⁴

¹Department of Chemistry, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
²Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Petra, Amman, Jordan.
³Department of Physics and Basic Science, Faculty of Engineering Technology, Al-Balqa Applied University, Amman, Jordan.
⁴Department of Geology, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.

Electroconductive hydroxy-sodalite/graphite composites were synthesized by alkali-activation of kaolinite in the presence of sodium hydroxide as the alkali activator and graphite as a conductive filler. Thermal, morphological and microstructural properties in addition to direct current (D.C.) conductivity of the prepared composites were investigated. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in the attenuated total reflection mode (FTIR/ATR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive using X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX) and DC conductivity measurements were used to characterize the prepared composites. The effect of the hydroxyl-sodalite-to-graphite and NaOH-to-kaolinite ratios on the electrical conductivity was investigated and evaluated on the generated composite specimens made of Jordanian kaolinite or pure kaolinite. It was demonstrated that increasing the mass ratio of graphite-to-kaolinite in the clay-based composites increased the electrical conductivity of the resultant composites. It was also observed that using 1:1 graphite-to-pure kaolinite mass ratio showed the best electrical conductivity value of 3 × 10^-3 s/cm, among the other mass ratios used for pure kaolinite specimens, while using 1:1 mass ratio of graphite-to-Jordanian kaolinite showed a conductivity of 1.6 s/cm.

Kaolinite, Graphite, Composite Inorganic Polymers, Electroconductive Composites

Alomari, R. , Esaifan, M. , Hourani, M. , Amayreh, H. , Amayreh, M. and Khoury, H. (2019) Synthesis of Electroconducting Hydroxy-Sodalite/Graphite Composite: Preparation and Characterization. Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry, 9, 25-36. doi: 10.4236/ampc.2019.93003.