Nazli Asgari, - Reactor and Catalysis Research Center (RCRC), Chemical Engineering
Mohammad Haghighi - Reactor and Catalysis Research Center (RCRC), Chemical Engineering
Sirous Shafiei

The properties of the Iranian Clinoptilolite treated using hydrochloric acid with different concentrations were investigated in the current work. The quality of acid treated natural zeolite was examined by observing the changes in physicochemical properties through X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, specific surface analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The quantitative analysis showed that the surface area of the raw zeolite was 13m2/g which increased to 98.1m2/g after treatment with 5N HCl solution. Furthermore, HCl treatment changed significantly the morphology of the samples. FTIR analysis showed that intensity of the band at 1405 cm-1 increased while a new band appeared at 3060 cm-1. This is attributed to partial dissolution of both Si-tetrahedra and free linkages, which destroyed specific exchange sites of the zeolites.

Natural zeolite, Clinoptilolite, Hydrochloric acid, Acid treatment, Modification