Abstract
In recent times, the challenges during the exfoliation of silicate minerals with three-dimensional layered structures have posed an environmental threat in the preparation of montmorillonite (MMT). In this work, MMT was successfully exfoliated using a simple and low-cost heating/gasifying method. The degree of exfoliation, and morphology of exfoliated MMT were studied using ultra-high resolution field emission scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. From the result, the best exfoliating effect was achieved when the heating temperature was 100 °C and under three gasification cycles. Thus, this method can be considered a great potential for large-scale production of exfoliated MMT nanosheets as additives for ceramic substrates and membrane technology.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from Key Laboratory of Liaoning Province for Polymer Catalytic Synthesis, Liaoning Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Polymeric Materials and High-tech Research and Development Project of Liaoning Provincial Industrial Special Resources Protection Office (Liao Cai Qi [2013]736). Tunmise Ayode Otitoju also acknowledges the financial support provided by Shenyang University of Technology under the postdoctoral scheme.
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Liu, R., Li, S., Otitoju, T.A. et al. Exfoliation of montmorillonite using a simple and low-cost heating/gasifying method. Appl Nanosci 11, 1427–1436 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-021-01772-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-021-01772-0