Thermal stability of Ag-exchanged clinoptilolite rich mineral

Thermal stability of clinoptilolite rich mineral from Western Anatolia, Turkey and its Ag-exchange forms was investigated. Parent mineral of different sizes were heated up to 1000°C with heating rate of 2 and 10°C min^-1 using differential thermal analyzer (DTA) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TG). Ag exchange was conducted both in conventional constant temperature waterbath and microwave at 40, 60 and 80°C. The exchanged minerals were then characteized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), DTA and TG. The particle size and heating rate do not have significant effect on the thermal behavior of the parent mineral and no structural changes were observed with Ag exchange, only decomposition temperature was lowered. It was finally concluded that, Ag-exchanged clinoptilolite rich minerals were less thermally stable compared to parent mineral that does not affect their use for possible applications.