Characterization of Kono-Boue Clay as Possible Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

The Kono-Boue clay in Rivers State, Nigeria, which is currently applied locally for pottery, building bricks, and as medicine, had been characterized to determine its mineral structure using X-ray crystallography. Its surface morphology and elemental composition were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) respectively. The X-ray crystallography identified the clay as aluminium silicate with similar structure as kaolinite, which matched with berlinite crystal structure. The SEM image showed smaller particle sizes below 5m as well as larger particles of range 10-15m respectively while the EDX result showed ~ 50 % counts of Si/Al (ratio of 41), ~ 40 % for O, S, Mg, K, and Fe while the remaining ~10 % were shared by Ti, Zr, W, Hg and Au.