Vermiculite absorption capacity increasing by acid activation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the research of the acid activation process of mineral sorbent - vermiculite. This layered silicates could be applied for adsorptive separation and purification of chemical substances in petrochemical, gas, food, pharmaceutical and chemical industry. On the basis of X-ray diffraction and adsorption it was shown that the adsorption properties, and other physical and chemical properties of the layered silicates with a rigid structure are defined by dispersion, which in turn depends on the vermiculite crystal lattice structure. It was proved that the formation of amorphous silica during the vermiculite treatment with hot sulfuric acid. Vermiculite can be used to produce technical silica, because the activation by solution of 20-25% H2SO4 occurs total destruction of its lattice and the formation of substantially pure silica.