EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON ACID ACTIVATED CLAY FROM DANGARA.

ABSTRACT

The effect of temperature on acid activated clay from Dangara was investigated to obtain a partly dissolved material with increased porosity and surface acidity using HCl. The process involved the preparation of HCl stock solution through volume by volume. Then there was treatment of the clay sample with the acid. Acid-Activated Clay was then characterised X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared(FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray(SEM-EDX) followed by ascertaining the effect of temperature on the catalytic performance of the acid-activated clay during chemical reactions. The result revealed the high intense band around 1062.3 cm-1 can be linked to Si-0 stretching vibrations giving a conformation of silicate structure and with the increase in temperature the intensity also increased. The peaks at 2031.4 and 2191.7cm-1 in the spectra above are that of OH water or the presence of organic component in the clay. sample H6A heated at 200°C, has a surface area of 285.5 m2 /g, while sample H6B heated at 400°C, has a surface area of 530.3m2 /g. Therefore, sample H6B has a significantly higher surface area than sample H6A. Likewise, With higher heat treatment, there was an increase in pore volume (i.e H6A= 0.1822 cm3/g and H6B=0.2603 cm3/g. Mineralogical studies showed that deposits contained the following minerals quartz low (α-SiO2), sanidine High(KAlSi3O8), and lepidocrocite (γ-FeO.OH). The chemical composition indicates high content of silica and alumina which showed that it is an aluminosilicate mineral deposit. Acid activation of clays and clay minerals remains an attractive modification for research and applications. These include the traditional bleaching and decolourization of vegetable and other oils by materials based on some forms of clays.