Structural study of bentonite/iron oxide composites

It is well known that clay minerals and magnetic particles are good sorbents of heavy metals. The bentonite/iron oxide composites have been prepared with two different weight ratios of clay/iron oxide 1:1, 5:1 at two selected temperatures 20 and 85 degrees C and effect of these ternperatures on their structural, surface and porous properties was studied. The composites were characterized by the powder X-ray diffraction method, Mossbauer spectroscopy, magnetization measurements and scanning electron microscopy. The surface and pore properties were studied by nitrogen adsorption measurements. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.