Acid leaching of natural chrysotile asbestos to mesoporous silica fibers

Nanofibrous silica with a high surface area was produced from chrysotile by the acid-leaching method. Natural mineral chrysotile asbestos from Stragari, Korlace in Serbia was used as the starting material. The fibers were modified by chemical treatment with 1 M HCl and the mineral dissolution was monitored by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, inductively coupled plasma spectrometry and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption techniques to highlight the effects of the leaching process. The results showed that the applied concentration of acid solution and processing time of 4 h were sufficient to effectively remove the magnesium hydroxide layer and transform the crystal structure of the hazardous starting chrysotile to porous SiO2 nanofibers. With prolonged acid leaching, the specific surface area, S BET, calculated by BET equation, was increased from 147 up to 435 m2 g− 1, with micropores representing a significant part of the specific surface.