Effect of ball milling process on the structure of local clay and its adsorption performance for Ni(II) removal

The effect of ball milling process on the properties of the natural local clay including structural changes and adsorption capacity for the removal of Ni(II) ions from aqueous solutions, was investigated. The local clay was ground at varying times from 5 to 20 h with a 10:1 or 20:1 weight ratio of the balls to powder, which produced six different ball milled clays (BM-Clay1 to BM-Clay6). Ground clays were then characterized by particle size measurement, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy analysis, and adsorption experiments. These analyses were performed to evaluate the changes in particle size distribution, morphology, crystallinity, and adsorption characteristics. According to XRD analysis, the degree of amorphization increased with grinding time, and the present crystalline phase in the final ball milled clay was found to be quartz, which was the associated phase in the original unmilled clay mineral. FTIR studies indicated the destruction of the layers of the montmorillonite upon milling. Adsorption experiments revealed that under similar conditions, BM-Clay2 has the most adsorption capacity for Ni(II) ions. Adsorption characteristics of this ball milled clay for the removal of Ni(II) ions from aqueous solutions was examined in batch adsorption studies under different conditions of contact time, solution pH, adsorbent dose, and initial Ni(II) concentration. The Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 29.76 mg/g at pH 7 and 25 °C. The adsorption kinetics data showed better agreement with the pseudo second-order kinetic model. Also, both surface adsorption and intra-particle diffusion contributed to the rate limiting steps in the adsorption of Ni(II) on clay adsorbent. In conclusion, grinding of local clay using ball milling process can significantly increase the adsorption capacity of the clay for Ni(II) removal from aqueous solutions.