In order to develop the method of synthesizing novel layered materials having the effective usage in industry, kanemite, one of the hydrous sodium polysilicate, was converted to some clay minerals.
Kanemite was treated hydrothermally with aluminum and magnesium salts solution for various Al or Mg (in reaction system)/Si (in kanemite) molecular ratios ranging from 0.1 to 2.0 at 200 and 250°C for 1 to 10 days under saturated vapor pressures. The products were examined by means of X-ray diffractometry, thermal analysis, and transmission electron microscopy.
By treatment with basic Magnesium carbonate kanemite changed to trioctahedral smectite and serpentine with increasing Mg/Si ratio. On the other hand, only kaolinite, having 1: 1 structure, was formed by reaction with AlCl
3 solution and 2: 1 type mineral of trioctahedral smectite and talc are formed by MgCl
2 solution. These results are different from previous studies that the 1: 1 type and 2: 1 type clay minerals had been formed in the high and low ratios of Al or Mg/Si in he reaction system, respectively. There is some possibility, however, that the pH of the solution and/or the structure of the starting material affected the process of hydrothermal reaction.
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