Activation of a sepiolite with dilute solutions of HNO3 and subsequent heat treatments: II. Determination of surface acid centres

Abstract

AbstractA sepiolite from Toledo, Spain, was activated with dilute solutions of HNO3 (0·25, 0·50 and 0·75 m) followed by heat treatment at 110, 200, 300, 400 and 500°C for 10 h. The retention of n-butylamine in cyclohexane solution was used to follow the variation of surface acid centres of the sepiolite as a function of the acid and heat treatments, these reaching a maximum for the product treated with 0·75 m HNO3 and heated at 300°C. Acid treatments within the range 0·50–0·75 m and subsequent heat treatment at 200–300°C for 10 h yielded products with the highest surface activity.