Preparation of porous silica from mechanically activated kaolinite

Mesoporous silica has been prepared by leaching of the Al2O3 component from mechanically amorphized kaolinite. The kaolinite was amorphized by grinding in a planetary ball mill for 1 h. After grinding the amorphized kaolinite was chemically treated with dilute sulfuric acid at 90 degreesC for varying times. The influence of the leaching time on the porous properties and structure of the silica was studied by XRD, XRF, FTIR and BET adsorption methods. The specific surface areas of the leached samples were found to vary from 312 m(2)/g to 284 m(2)/g. The pore size distribution, calculated by the BJH method based on N-2 gas isotherms, showed a unimodal pore size distribution with an average pore size of about 3.8 nm. The total pore volume of the porous silica varied from 0.28 ml/g to 0.312 ml/g, with a uniform pore size distribution in the mesopore regions. New applications exploiting the characteristic pore size of this material are to be expected.