Effect of Heat Treatment on Properties of Mineral Attapulgite

Mineral attapulgite powders were heat treated at different temperature from 100°C to 800°C. The effect of heat treatment on properties of attapulgite were studied by particle size distribution, surface free energy, and water vapor adsorption performance. The results show that the medium particle size and surface free energy of attapulgite increase and hygroscopic capacity promptly reduce with the increase of heat temperature .The medium particle size of the raw palygorskite is 3.09 μm, and it becomes 14.12 μm after heat treatment at 800 °C. The surface free energy, polarity component and dispersion component of the natural attapulgite are 45.16mN•m-1, 13.92mN•m-1, 31.24mN•m-1, respectively, and they become 116.22 mN•m-1，116.22 mN•m-1，0.0 mN•m-1 after heat treatment at 800°C. Moreover, the hygroscopic capacity of attapulgite in 24h decreases from 17.1 % to 5.6% after heat treatment at 800°C.