Method Used from Activated the Naturel Clay

The clay used in this study was from Algeria. The mineralogical and physico-chemical properties of clays have been determined. Chemical, X- ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the clays reveal that the main mineral present are Montmorillonite, Smectite, Kaolinite, Calcite and Quartz. X-Ray Diffraction clearly shows that the d-spacing of clay increased from 12.93 A to 16.50 A, which could be attributed to the activated clay. Quartz (reflection at 2Ɵ = 35.97°) and calcite (reflection at 2Ɵ = 35.97°) are the major impurities. Activation decreased the iron, calcium and magnesium content and increased the silica and alumina content. Montmorillonite is the major clay mineral. IR techniques have been used to identify natural and activated clay minerals. The region above 3000 cm−1 wavenumber contains information about the silanols and the characteristic vibration peaks of montmorillonite are identified at 3625 cm−1 (O–H stretching). The high intensity of the peak appearing at 1039 cm-1 is an indication of the large amount of this mineral in the sample. In continuation of previous works carried out in this field, in the present work, a more efficient method for modification of Clay was studied.