مشخصات پژوهش

Natural mineral materials such as vermiculite are low-cost materials that are widely used in the removal of a variety of pollutants. Amorphous silica with a high surface area was prepared in this study via acid leaching of vermiculite via sulfuric acid, resulting in amorphous silica with a high surface area. A further step in the process involved treating the synthesized silica with potassium hydroxide and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a hydrophobization agent. Fouriertransform spectroscopy (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and zeta potential analyses were used to characterize the chemical and morphological properties of the prepared adsorbent. Modified vermiculite wetting characteristics were evaluated by static water contact angle measurements via the sessile drop method. The prepared silica was found to have superhydrophobic properties with a high water contact angle and was found to be the most effective oil adsorbent. Furthermore, the resulting silica has been shown to be effective in oil-water separation processes with an efficiency of 98% in this regard