Annually, asbestos exposure kills approximately 104,000 people, and causes lasting disabilities to 1.5M people. It is estimated that 125M people have been affected by this compound worldwide. However, it is also recognized from centuries to be one of the most unsurpassed fire retardant materials. Therefore, it will be very beneficial to have a simple and facile way to transform such naturally occurring crystals into an inactive, biologically safe compound that still possesses the efficient fire retardant properties. In previous research, asbestos was modified with great difficulties and lengthy, energy intense procedures. Here, we report the fast introduction of Titanium on the chrysotile surface, one of the most important crystal forms of asbestos, to form a new fiber based on MgxTiySiz. The reaction is fast and simple to perform and can be quickly scaled-up for industrial asbestos’ abatement. We will present data such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray powder diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) suggesting a new facile way to create a novel compound.

Facile formation of ternary MgTiSi compounds from asbestos-chrysotile’s abatement

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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