Effect of Hydrochloric Acid on the Structural of Sodic-Bentonite Clay

Samira Bendou, Moussa Amrani^*

Laboratory of Soft Technology, Recovering, and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Science, M’Hamed Bougara University, Boumerdes, Algeria.

DOI: 10.4236/jmmce.2014.25045                

Abstract

The objective of this work is to determine changes of surface properties of a bentonite after acid activation, using hydrochloric acid solutions (HCl) at room temperature. XRD, FX, FTIR, MEB, and BET analyses of the samples have been carried out to examine the structure of bentonite before and after acid activation. It is found that the raw bentonite is composed of dioctahedral montmorillonite with predominant quantity and certain amounts of quartz, albite and illite, etc. It has an cation exchange capacity (CEC) of 74.32 meq/g which allows it to be characterized as typical sodium bentonite. The changes, at low acid concentrations, are the result from from cation exchange (exchangeable cations with H+ ions). Differences of surface area at high acid concentrations (0.25 - 0.4 M) were caused by structural changes and partial decomposition of the samples. Data of surface area measurements have showed that with increase of concentration of hydrochloric acid, the surface area increased. The maximum value (837.11 m2/g) was reached by the sample activated with 0.4 M HCl. By against, activation with higher concentration (0.6 M) caused a decrease in the surface area.

Keywords

Bentonite, Sodic-Montmorillonite, Acid Activation, Cation Exchange Capacity, Surface Area

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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