Author(s) :

Zeka Léon, Bahwa Kushi Christian, Manene Francine, Tshiyuka Sony, Ilunga Ndala Augustin, Frenay Jean .

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

The effect of acid activation of some clay materials in the South-East of the Democratic Republic of Congo was studied, in the interest of considering the substitution of imported clays as adsorbents. Depending on abundance, type of supporting soil and accessibility in this region, six clay materials were chosen including two taken from the montmorillonite-rich soils (Malambwe and Kasenga), one from the kaolinite-rich soil (Kazembe) and three others (Lufira, Kalubwe, and Kyowelo) taken from soils with equivalent proportions of montmorillonite and kaolinite. Acid concentration, time, temperature and impregnation ratio were studied during activation for which the effect was evaluated by the cation exchange capacity (CEC) after contact with a solution of methylene blue as adsorbate. The results showed that activation did not significantly improve the adsorbent power with increases in CEC which barely exceeded 30% with the exception of the Kazembe sample which gave an increase of 50%. Clay materials can therefore be used without prior activation and remain competitive in this case the samples rich in montmorillonite which gave the best CEC values of 110 mmol/100g for Malambwe and 82 mmol/100g for Kasenga, the others having values less than 73 mmol/100g. However, these performances remain slightly lower than those of imported clays which gave 143 and 119 mmol/100g respectively for Bentonite and Tonsil

No. of Downloads :

13