Concentration dependent pore morphological tuning of kaolin clay foams using sodium dodecyl sulfate as foaming agent

Microstructural tailoring of kaolin foams was successfully performed from kaolin clay mineral by surfactant assisted foaming technique using the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The foams were prepared via frothing of aqueous kaolin suspension with SDS solutions of different concentration and the stability of the foam was improved by insitu polymerization of methylol-urea to urea formaldehyde resin. Furthermore, the effect of surfactant concentration on slurry foaming characteristics and the corresponding change in the pore morphology of the dried foams were investigated. The result showed that the pore size, pore volume and interconnectivity changed with the increased amount of SDS. In addition, the role of SDS micellar stability on the frothing capacity and the analogous modification in the microstructure of final sintered foam were explained by a possible mechanism based on the variation of micellar stability with concentration.