Identificação e caracterização dos sítios superficiais de partículas de alumina e interações de adsorção com o ácido esteárico

Abstract

Ceramic oxides, e.g. alumina, can be used in various applications due to their reactive surface, hardness and thermomechanical resistance. One of the attributes that determines its application is the ability of the surface to interact with the medium. Given the amphoteric nature of alumina, its reactivity is influenced by the surface groups, with a predominance of hydroxyl groups. The ability of adsorbing organic molecules on the surface is dependent on the particle-surfactant system. In this work, the hydroxylationdehydroxylation of α-Al2O3 (d50= 0.4 μm) particles was studied. The main objective was to identify and classify the active surface sites for adsorption, the maximum adsorption and the interaction mechanism of stearic acid with the alumina surface in nonpolar medium (acetone). Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA), Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) were used. Besides physically adsorbed water, associated and isolated hydroxyls were identified. Both the adsorbed water and associated hydroxyls on surface sites were thermally removed at ambient pressure. On surface sites the physically adsorbed water was removed at 225 °C and associated hydroxyls were gradually removed from the surface up to 650 °C. For the surface active sites it was determined the saturation point and monolayer formation of stearic acid at the concentration of 0.8 %wt. The formation of a second layer for concentrations higher than 1.6 %wt. was also observed. The results indicate that adsorption of stearic acid on the surface of alumina occurs by electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds, in double and triplecoordinated sites.