Synthesis of Sodium Sulfate by supercritical fluid

This study discussed the synthesis of sodium sulfate using pure sodium sulfite and supercriticalcarbon dioxide (ScCO۲) fluid. The size of CO۲ molecules in ScCO۲ is ۰.۲۳ nm while the interlayerdistance of sodium sulfite is ۰.۳۴ nm. Thus, ScCO۲ can easily diffuse the sodium sulfite layersand exfoliate them. In this experiment, sodium sulfite was mixed with sulfounate and sodiumlignosulfonate and then transferred into the supercritical device. TEM, RAMAN spectroscopy,and AFM were employed to characterize the obtained sodium sulfate. Analysis of the topology ofsamples and investigation of the difference between the sodium sulfate edge level and substrateconfirmed the formation of ultrathin sodium sulfate single layers with the thickness of ۰.۶۲۵ nm..

Keywords:

Sodium sulfite , Supercritical CO۲ , Exfoliation , Sodium sulfate.