Dehydroxylation of Kaolinite to Metakaolin - A Molecular Dynamics Study

The thermally induced transformation of kaolinite to metakaolin is simulated using molecular dynamics through a step-wise dehydroxylation approach. The simulation shows that the removal ofstructural water through dehydroxylation produces a distortion or buckling effect in the 1 : 1 Al-Si layers, whi...

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Main Authors: Sperinck, Shani, Raiteri, Paolo, Marks, Nigel, Wright, Kathleen
Format: Journal Article
Published: The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10881
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author Sperinck, Shani
Raiteri, Paolo
Marks, Nigel
Wright, Kathleen
author_facet Sperinck, Shani
Raiteri, Paolo
Marks, Nigel
Wright, Kathleen
author_sort Sperinck, Shani
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The thermally induced transformation of kaolinite to metakaolin is simulated using molecular dynamics through a step-wise dehydroxylation approach. The simulation shows that the removal ofstructural water through dehydroxylation produces a distortion or buckling effect in the 1 : 1 Al-Si layers, which is due to the migration of the aluminium into vacant sites provided by the inter-layerspacing. The structural change is characterized by a loss of crystallinity and a concomitant change in aluminium coordination from octahedral to tetrahedral, with this study confirming the presence of 5-fold aluminium within the metakaolin structure. The degree and probability of Al migration are proportional to the amount of local disorder within the structure, which is governed by the degree oflocal hydroxyl group loss. This results in the formation of aluminium clusters within the layers. This study proposes that instead of a uniform structure, metakaolin exhibits regions of differing aluminium concentrations, which can have major effects in the reaction chemistry at those sites.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2011
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-108812017-09-13T16:04:16Z Dehydroxylation of Kaolinite to Metakaolin - A Molecular Dynamics Study Sperinck, Shani Raiteri, Paolo Marks, Nigel Wright, Kathleen The thermally induced transformation of kaolinite to metakaolin is simulated using molecular dynamics through a step-wise dehydroxylation approach. The simulation shows that the removal ofstructural water through dehydroxylation produces a distortion or buckling effect in the 1 : 1 Al-Si layers, which is due to the migration of the aluminium into vacant sites provided by the inter-layerspacing. The structural change is characterized by a loss of crystallinity and a concomitant change in aluminium coordination from octahedral to tetrahedral, with this study confirming the presence of 5-fold aluminium within the metakaolin structure. The degree and probability of Al migration are proportional to the amount of local disorder within the structure, which is governed by the degree oflocal hydroxyl group loss. This results in the formation of aluminium clusters within the layers. This study proposes that instead of a uniform structure, metakaolin exhibits regions of differing aluminium concentrations, which can have major effects in the reaction chemistry at those sites. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10881 10.1039/c0jm01748e The Royal Society of Chemistry fulltext
spellingShingle Sperinck, Shani
Raiteri, Paolo
Marks, Nigel
Wright, Kathleen
Dehydroxylation of Kaolinite to Metakaolin - A Molecular Dynamics Study
title Dehydroxylation of Kaolinite to Metakaolin - A Molecular Dynamics Study
title_full Dehydroxylation of Kaolinite to Metakaolin - A Molecular Dynamics Study
title_fullStr Dehydroxylation of Kaolinite to Metakaolin - A Molecular Dynamics Study
title_full_unstemmed Dehydroxylation of Kaolinite to Metakaolin - A Molecular Dynamics Study
title_short Dehydroxylation of Kaolinite to Metakaolin - A Molecular Dynamics Study
title_sort dehydroxylation of kaolinite to metakaolin - a molecular dynamics study
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/10881