Abstract Vermiculite clays are adsorbent materials that have good chemical adsorption capacity, which makes them applicable in the removal of drugs from aqueous solutions. Their lamellar structure can be easily expanded and organophilized. To assess the efficacy and environmentally-tolerant capacity of the adsorption method, the organophilized vermiculite clay was compared to both natural and expanded vermiculite clays. To prepare the organophilized clays, a natural clay sample was expanded at 900 °C. The expanded clay was thus treated by immersion in a 1.0 M NaCl solution and organophilized using a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMA-Br) surfactant, for 24 h at 50 °C. Natural, expanded, and organophilized samples were characterized using the techniques of XRD, FTIR, TG/DSC, and SEM to observe structural changes after expansion and organophilization. These characterizations indicated that there was an increase in the interlamellar space of the expanded and organophilized sample. In addition, a study of the point of zero charge was performed to determine the surface changes of the samples and the amount of doxazosin adsorption in the samples was determined by the time adsorption test. Further, the organophilized sample showed potential adsorption of the drug doxazosin and high performance in relation to the expanded and natural samples.

Resumo Argila é um material que exibe excelentes propriedades adsorventes que pode ser aplicada para a clarificação de óleos de motor usado. Descreve-se uma análise comparativa entre argilas natural e quimicamente modificadas como um método de clarificação ambientalmente correto. Previamente a argila foi tratada quimicamente com KOH e H2SO4 com concentração 2,0 M a 150 °C. Amostras natural e quimicamente tratadas foram caracterizadas usando as técnicas de DRX, FTIR, SSA e análise térmica para observar a mudança estrutural após o tratamento químico. Estas caracterizações indicaram que houve aumento na área superficial e criação de espaço microporoso na amostra tratada com ácido, como resultado da esfoliação da argila. A amostra tratada com ácido exibiu potencial de clarificação do óleo usado e alto desempenho em relação à amostra natural e amostra tratada com base.

Abstract Clay is a material that exhibits excellent adsorbent properties which can be applied for the clarification of used motor oils. We describe a comparative analysis between natural and chemically-modified clays as an environmentally sound method of clarification. Previously, a sample of clay was chemically treated with KOH and H2SO4 with a concentration of 2.0 M at 150 °C. Both the natural and chemically-treated samples were characterized using the techniques of XRD, FTIR, SSA, and thermal analysis to observe the structural change after the chemical treatment. These characterizations indicated that there was an increase in surface area and microporous space creation in the acid-treated sample as a result of the clay exfoliation. The acid-treated sample exhibited the potential of clarification of waste oil and high performance relative to the natural sample and the base-treated sample.