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10 5923 J Ijmc 20150506 01 PDF
10 5923 J Ijmc 20150506 01 PDF
DOI: 10.5923/j.ijmc.20150506.01
Abstract The production of silica gel from the natural clay obtained from Kwali area council of Abuja was carried out
using alkaline extraction followed by acid precipitation. The alkaline extraction was investigated using 4%, 15%, 25% and
30% (wt) sodium hydroxide solution at various reaction times of 1hr 1½ hr, 2hrs, 2½ hrs, 3hrs, 4hrs, 5hrs,7hrs and 8hrs. The
highest yield of 15.25% silica gel for 25g of clay was recorded at 25% (wt) of the sodium hydroxide solution and reaction
times of 4hrs. The x ray diffraction analysis and characterization of the clay showed the predominance of quartz and illite.
There were also peaks showing the presence of kaolinite, goethite and rutile.
Keywords Silica Gel, Quartz, Diffraction, Extraction
The interpretation of the diffractogram was done by properties of a good quality commercially available silica gel
carrying out search and match on highscore software
(panalytical). The highscore compares diffractograms with
reference diffractograms by using different colouration to ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
identify different phases in a sample.
The result of search and match on the highscore identified The authors are grateful to the Sheda Science and
quarzt and kaolinite as the predominant phases with scores of Technology Complex, Abuja for facilities and sponsorship
58 and 42 respectively. Peaks at 23.036°, 26.702°, 40.374°, of this project.
45.838°, 50.220°, 54.953°, 60.034°, 62.304°, and 76.037°
showed the presence of quartz in the clay. And peaks at
12.186°, 19.844°, 25.081°, and 42.478° showed the presence
of kaolinite. The x ray diffraction analysis of the clay showed REFERENCES
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the optimum quantity of 3.82g of silica gel obtained per 25g Addition of sedimentary rock to kaolinitic clays: influence on
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increased with the concentration of sodium hydroxide with [10] Hafiz Asghar Ali, Arshad Chughtai and Abdul Sattar, (2009).
the optimum quantity obtained at 25% of sodium hydroxide. Synthesis of quality silica gel; Optimization of parameters
The silica gel produced shows close resemblance to the Journal of Faculty of Engineering & Technology, pages xx-xx.