Study of structural properties of acid-treated natural sediment and its application as a sustainable catalyst

Abstract

This paper aims to characterize a natural sediment from Bahía Blanca estuary (Argentina) as a new clay source and determine the catalytic capacity after its structural modification by an acid activation process. The acid treatment was performed by employing H2SO4 at different concentrations at 353 K and 60 min. The raw material and acid-activated samples were characterized by XRD, XRF, FTIR, N2 physisorption, TGA, SEM, EDX, potentiometric titration and pyridine adsorption monitored by FTIR. Moreover, the catalytic activity on lauric acid esterification with methanol was evaluated as a test reaction. From the structural characterization, it was determined that the material studied contains mainly Ca-montmorillonite, illite, albite and quartz. Likewise, the results obtained showed that the acid-treatment impacts the material characteristics, predominantly surface acidity and textural properties. Particularly, it was evidenced that the samples treated under medium acid activation conditions lead to an increase in acid site number and strength and specific surface area and consequently improve the catalytic activity. The results obtained evidenced that this low cost and widely available raw material presents an interesting mineralogical composition with a high clay mineral content. Additionally, the catalytic performance showed a good conversion in the test reaction regarding other heterogeneous catalysts. Hence, considering these results, this natural sediment merits further research on its purification and application.