Preparation of a Highly Porous Clay-Based Absorbent for Hazard Spillage Mitigation via Two-Step Expansion of Vermiculite

Expanded vermiculite (eVMT) has been studied as a risk-free, general-purpose absorbent for liquid hazards due to its excellent thermal and chemical stability. Here, was expanded by two steps: exfoliation 30 wt% H2O2 treatment at 60 °C subsequent expansion microwave heating. This two-step produced more homogenously separated concertina-like eVMTs with higher total pore volume of 7.75 cm3 g−1 than the conventional method. The eVMT found be greatly superior commercial silver counterparts in hazardous liquid-uptake performance. uptake simply interpreted physical infilling process into pores, spontaneous hazard removal great capacity discussed large suitable dimensions capillary action. As practical device, prototype assembly made these demonstrated successful mitigation on an impermeable surface.