Study of sepiolite from Goleš (Kosovo, Yugoslavia) I: Sorption capacity

Abstract

The sorption of molecules of different size and polarity (water, n-hexane isooctane, benzene, toluene, cyclohexane, carbon tetrachloride, isopropanol isobutanol, methanol, ethanol) by sepiolite from Goleš, i.e. from the biggest to-date known Yugoslav deposit, was studied in this work. The BET surface area observed with different sorbates varied from 227 to 314m2/g due to only partial migration of sorbate molecules into the pores or to imperfect packing of the sorbate molecules. The value of the outer surface area suggested that the average thickness of the fibers of Goleš sepiolite was approximately 15 nm.

Keywords

• sepiolite
• goleš
• sorption capacity
• bet surface area
• alcohols
• alkanes
• aromatics
• carbon tetrachloride