Modified physical properties of kaolin by intercalation and exfoliation method

Abstract The intercalation method and combination of the intercalation-exfoliation method were applied to modify kaolin. The intercalation process was prepared using urea 60 % as an intercalated agent and the exfoliation process was carried out by ultrasonication. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and particle size analysis (PSA). Experimental results showed that the physical properties of kaolin significantly improved after modification. This was indicated by the increasing interlayer spacing of modified kaolin, which was confirmed by SEM and XRD analysis. Based on XRF analysis, the loss on ignition value increased after kaolin modification, suggesting that the urea had successfully intercalated into the kaolin interlayer. Kaolin modification with intercalation method produced the most significant physical properties improvement, which increased surface area from 2508.607 to 27297.990 cm 2 /g and decreased particle size average from 41.535 to 13.836 µm and had surface area close to illite clay.