Extraction of montmorillonite nano particles from naturally occurring clay mixtures

Abstract

Montmorillonite (MMT) nano clay has attracted lot of attention due to its ability toimpart superior mechanical, thermal and gas-barrier properties to polymer-clay nano composites. Therefore, this clay has a huge demand in the nano-technology related industry mainly in the area of nanocomposites. However at present, all the extraction methods of Montmorillonite mainly concentrate on bentonite. This research is focused on extracting nano sized Montmorillonite clay particles from local clay deposits that can be used in the fabrication of nano composites. Clay samples used in this research work were obtained from the dry zone of the country. These clay specimens were then purified in several steps and subjected to clay isolation process and finally an extraction process was carried out. The purified and extracted clay were analysed using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), laser particle size analysis, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis techniques. The results from these analysis showed that the extracted clay contained high concentration of Montmorillonite clay. With further purification the extracted clay can be used in the fabrication of polymer-clay nano composites which would have a beneficial output as it would contribute for the value addition for the local clay deposits.