Effect of Acid Treatment on the Chemical Properties of Clays from Selected Sites in Murang’a and Nyeri counties, Kenya

Abstract

Assessing improvement on the quality of clay has been conducted by treatment with different concentrations of hydrochloric and oxalic acid. This project intended to assess the effect of acid treatment on the elemental composition of clays from selected sites. The clays were leached using hydrochloric and oxalic acid separately at a concentration of 0.0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2M. The elemental composition of raw and acid-treated clays was determined using AAS. Elemental composition of the acid-treated clays, in oxide form were in the ranges of 40.80- 65.16 % SiO2, 7.16 -30.33 % Al2O3, 0.33-7.62 %TiO2, 0.242.65 % K2O, 0.01-1.82 % MgO. The findings of this study showed that the quality of clays could be improved by acid treatment hence the clays can be used as a source of raw materials for industrial applications.