Study of sepiolite from Goles (Kosovo, Yugoslavia). II. Acid activation

• Main Authors: DRAGOMIR VITOROVIC, VIDOJKO JOVIC, DRAGOMIR KARAULIC, MARINA RADOJEVIC
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Serbian Chemical Society 2002-07-01
• Series: Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society
• Subjects: sepiolite; Goles; acid activation; surface area; pore volume; f plot; adsorption
• Online Access: http://www.shd.org.yu/HtDocs/SHD/Vol67/No7/V67-No7-05.pdf

The changes in the pore structure and adsorption properties of sepiolite from Gole{ resulting from treatment with 4 M HCl for various periods of time were investigated. The BET method specific surface areas, pore volumes and f plots were determined by nitrogen adsorption. The surface area progressively increased during the 70 hours of acid treatment, when a maximum was attained. The differences in the adsorption properties of the original and the acid treated sepiolite were evaluated by comparison of adsorption isotherms obtained with benzene, n-hexane, methanol and isooctane. The enhanced adsorption of isooctane was of great interest, since the sorption of this compound on natural sepiolites is generally very limited. The results suggest that chemical treatment of sepiolite with 4 M HCl for 70 h produces an adsorbent of optimal porosity and other adsorption properties.