Abstract

Dry grinding of illite particles has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and nitrogen adsorption techniques. Prolonged grinding results in an amorphous illite structure and the mechanochemical effect markedly promotes a reduction in reflection intensities with increased grinding time. It is confirmed that illite is very susceptible to alteration by grinding. The illite crystal size (d 006 ) appears to reach a limit after 265h of grinding. N 2 adsorption studies indicate that illite ground for 865h shows a larger average pore diameter than a sample after 465h grinding or the original illite. It is inferred that grinding is good for the formation of macrostructural pores. Illite grinding results in a decrease in the Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area and total pore volume. IR spectroscopy shows a slight alteration in the illite bands after mechanochemical processing and some new bands were detected after 4 or more hours of grinding.