. Earth Science News .
Common Clays Investigated For Use As High Tech Environmental Catalysts

File photo: Red clay.
by Staff Writers
Montevideo, Uruguay (SPX) Apr 04, 2006
Development of new clean technologies in accordance with increasingly demanding environmental legislation requires new catalysts, adsorbents and/or catalyst supports. Clays have been identified as a promising materials resource for this application.

More specifically, Pillared Inter-Layered Clays (PILCs) have been identified as suitable for these purposes. However, their widespread use has been delayed by difficulties in obtaining a uniform and reproducible product.

Engineers and scientists from the Universidad de la Republica, M. Sergio, M. Musso, J. Medina and W. Diano, studied the influence of the starting material particle size on the textural properties of the pillared clays obtained by using the mineral without any other pretreatment than drying, grinding and sieving.

In their study, they transformed a Uruguayan montmorillonitic mineral into a microporous solid by pillaring. Using three different size fractions, they were in all cases able to produce yields upwards of 90%.

No significant difference was observed for particle sizes below 450 m m. Resultant microporous solids were obtained with specific surface areas over 350 m 2/g and specific total pore volume of about 0.250 mL/g. The specific micropore volumes represented about 70% of the total pore volume. Pore openings, determined by two independent methods, were in the range of 0.7-0.8 nm. The samples calcined at 750 oC retained about 72% of their textural parameter values.

The study showed that a high mineral yield and a simpler manipulation can yield economic advantages in producing microporous solids. The high mineral yield could be used in catalysis and adsorption processes, especially if size or form selectivity are required.

Related Links
Universidad de la Republica
AZoNetwork

New Processing Steps Promise More Economical Ethanol Production
Blacksburg VA (SPX) Apr 04, 2006
Why isn't ethanol production growing by leaps and bounds in the face of higher gasoline prices? Ethanol production from cornstarch is a $10 billion dollar business in the United States and 4 billion gallons of ethanol will be produced in 2006.







  • US Struggling To Find New Disaster Chief
  • Pakistan To Relocate Town Destroyed By Earthquake
  • Engineers Making A Difference Worldwide
  • Tiny Water Purification Packet Helps Save Lives Worldwide

  • UN Decries Biodiversity Decline, Climate Change
  • Better Estimates For Future Extreme Precipitation In Europe
  • Climate Change Deal Will Fail Without US, China And India: Blair
  • Britain Will Exceed Kyoto But Miss Own Targets On Greenhouse Gases

  • Envisat Makes Direct Measurements Of Ocean Surface Velocities
  • NASA Scientist Claims Warmer Ocean Waters Reducing Ice Worldwide
  • Space Tool Aids Fight For Clean Drinking Water
  • FluWrap: Deadly Strain Divides

  • Common Clays Investigated For Use As High Tech Environmental Catalysts
  • New Bioproducts Research Centre Will Help Industry Create Forest Biorefinery
  • New Processing Steps Promise More Economical Ethanol Production
  • The Challenge Of Fueling The Chinese Replicator

  • Supercomputer Explores Avian Flu Vaccine And Isolation Options
  • Rain Worsens Risk Of Disease In Drought-Stricken Ethiopia
  • Simple Idea To Dramatically Improve Dengue Vaccinations
  • Avian Influenza Arrives In Middle East

  • Does Biodiversity Increase As Rainforest Area Expands During Global Warming
  • How Vitamin A And Meiosis Split Life In Two
  • Insect Activities Worth $57Bn In US Alone
  • French Farmers Fear Bears

  • China To Spend Over 1Bn Dollars Cleaning Up Songhua River
  • Evacuations Continue As China Gas Well Leaks After Blast
  • Subsurface Bacteria Release Phosphate To Neutralise Uranium Contamination
  • Universities Collaborate To Reduce Development Impact On James River

  • Why Are Letters The Shape That They Are
  • Technology Terror And Viagra Could Warp Sex And Relationships
  • Cortex Matures Faster In Youth With Highest IQ
  • New Light On Muscle Efficiency

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement