Porous structure of tailings of marine manganese nodules and crusts as deduced from the adsorption of nitrogen

Tailings of marine manganese nodules and crusts have many useful properties. One property in particular which could be of great significance is their high gas adsorption capacity. This capacity has a direct relationship with the pore structure of the tailings. The present investigation deals with the size, volume, surface area, and distribution of pores in the tailings via nitrogen adsorption-desorption techniques. The results show that the pore diameter of these tailings varies between 1.203 and 243.6 nm. The most frequent diameter of pores is 2 to 50 nm. These are classified as mesopores. The Barrett-Joyner-Halenda adsorption pore diameter is 1.203 to 14.078 nm. The small pores give the largest contribution to pore surface area. The large pores give the biggest contribution to pore volume. The pores could be derived from several sources. These include: (a) the amorphous fraction of the tailings which has been calcined, (b) the accumulative clearances between nanometer grains or crystals, and (c) the original porosity of the marine minerals.