Síntese de materiais geopoliméricos utilizados na separação de emulsões óleo/água.

Abstract

The geopolymers are inorganic polymers whose obtainment is given by polymerization of natural raw materials of geological origin containing aluminosilicate. The geopolymerization process involves chemical reaction under highly alkaline conditions of the Al-Si minerals, producing the polymeric ligation Si-O-AI-O. The geopolymer is an alternative material with high adsorption capacity, thus being possible to evaluate the separation capability of synthetic oil/water emulsions using geopolymer material. The raw material utilized in this research to obtain the geopolymeric materials was the slag, as an additional source of silica were used sodium metasilicate and rice husk ash, and the alkaline activator was NaOH. After synthesis of the geopolymer material, the same was poured into cylindrical containers and cured in an incubator at 60 °C for 24 and 48 hours, followed by curing at room temperature until 7 and 28 days. The characterization of the geopolymeric materials proved that the materials contain the silicate and aluminate groups, essential components for the synthesis of the geopolymeric materials in addition to inform certain qualities (morphological and mechanical) of the new material. The oil removal capacity was evaluated using oil/water emulsions with concentrations of 50, 75 and 100 ppm and stirring time of 1, 2 and 3 hours. It was verified that the geopolymeric materials have great potential in the oil/water separation process.