| dc.description |
Kaolinite-urea nanocompositeswere prepared via intercalation reactions in an attempt to investigate the dynamic nature of kaolinite
morphology for advanced applications in controlled release systems (CRS). Characterization was done using SEM-EDX, XRF,
ATR-FTIR, XRD, and DT/DTG; Andreasen pipette sedimentation technique was used to determine the grain size distribution
of the raw kaolinite. The X-ray diffraction pattern revealed the existence of an FCC Bravais lattice where the intercalation ratios
attained were 51.2%, 32.4%, 7.0%, and 38.4% for hydroxyaluminum oligomeric intercalated kaolinite, substituted urea intercalated
kaolinite, calcined DMSO intercalated kaolinite, and hydroxyaluminum reintercalated kaolinite, respectively, along with their
respective crystallite sizes of 33.51–31.73 nm, 41.92–39.69 nm, 22.31–21.13 nm, and 41.86–39.63 nm. The outcomes demonstrated
that the employed intercalation routes require improvements as the intercalation reactions were in average only ≈32.3%. The
observations unveiled that it is possible to manipulate kaolinite structure into various morphologies including dense-tightly
packed overlapping euhedral pseudo hexagonal platelets, stacked vermiform morphologies, postulated forms, and unique patterns
exhibiting self-assembled curled glomeruli-like morphologies. Such a diversity of kaolinite morphologies expedites its advanced
applications in the controlled release systems (CRS) such as drug delivery systems and controlled release fertilizers (CRFs). |
|