Bulgarian Chemical Communications, cilt.53, sa.4, ss.464-470, 2021 (SCI-Expanded)
Zeolites are crystalline, hydrated aluminosilicates of alkaline earth cations composed of 3-dimensional frameworks,
which have been widely used for adsorbents, catalysts, ion exchangers, molecular sieves for separation, and sorting the
molecules according to their crystalline size dimensions. Kaolin is an industrial clay, consisting of hydrated aluminum
silicate mineral, named kaolinite. Kaolin is used for various purposes in paper coating and filling, ceramics, cracking
catalysts, and many other uses. Kaolin functions as pharmaceutical excipient in commercial products, such as granulating
agent, film-coating additive, anti-caking agent and also accelerates blood clotting. Surface modification of kaolin allows
it to be used in different industries and for different purposes. Surface modification of inorganic materials can be carried
out by means of silanol agents. (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES), 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate
(MPTMS), (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS) are known important silanization agents used for surface
modification. The aim of this study is the surface modification of a zeolite and kaolin with APTES and MPTMS at
different ratios and in different solvent media (ethanol, toluene, DMSO). The structures of the samples were investigated
using zeta potential, Fourier transform infrared analysis (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was
determined that the optimum APTES modification ratio for zeolite was 1:10 in toluene, while the optimum MPTMS
modification ratio of kaolin was 1:3. It was revealed that the layered structure of kaolin is interleaved with DMSO solvent