Particle separation to improve the properties and understanding of Kisolite clay.

位于太平洋中部不列颠哥伦比亚省海岸的一个粘土矿床被海尔图克第一民族视为一种独特的粘土的宝贵资源，具有特殊的治疗愈合特性。Kismeet冰川粘土公司正在寻求利用这种独特的粘土，被称为kisisolite粘土，用于制药和化妆品应用。尽管具有相当大的潜力，但粘土中含有二氧化硅颗粒，在用于此类应用之前需要去除。更好地了解抗菌机理与颗粒大小和矿物学性质的关系对于优化这种粘土的使用也是必要的。我们在之前的Engage项目中检查了几个分离过程。斜振动筛被认为是根据粒径分离颗粒最有前途的方法，能够分离大于50微米的颗粒。拟议的Engage Plus拨款将扩展早期的工作，将粘土分成不同大小的部分，检查这些部分的矿物组成，并将这些特性与抗菌活性联系起来。一个实验室规模的倾斜振动筛，借助于超声来提高筛分效率和获得更小的颗粒，将开发和测试一系列的操作条件。然后将研究这些条件对抗菌性能的影响。如果时间允许，将进行初步测试，以证明将合适尺寸的粘土包含在纳米纤维基质中，用于各种抗菌应用。这项工作将由Grace博士和化学与生物工程系的一名博士后与土木工程、材料工程和微生物学合作，并与Kisameet的代表密切合作。

A clay deposit on the central Pacific British Columbia coast has been regarded by the Heiltsuk First Nations people as an invaluable resource of a unique clay with exceptional therapeutic healing properties. Kismeet Glacial Clay Inc. is seeking to utilize this unique clay, known as Kisolite Clay, for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. Despite its considerable potential, the clay contains silica particles which need to be removed prior to utilize for such applications. Better understanding of antimicrobial mechanism in relationship to particle size and mineralogical properties is also necessary for optimizing the use of this clay. Several separation processes were examined in our previous Engage project. An inclined vibrating screen was found to be the most promising method for separating particles by size, with capability to separate particles larger than 50 microns. The proposed Engage Plus grant will extend the earlier work by dividing the clay into different size fractions, examining the mineral compositions of these fractions and relating these properties to antibacterial activities. A laboratory-scale inclined vibrating screen, aided by sonication to improve screening efficiency and to obtain smaller size fractions, will be developed and tested for a range of operating conditions. The impact of these conditions on antibacterial properties will then be examined. If time allows, preliminary tests will be carried out to demonstrate the inclusion of the clay of suitable size into a nanofibre matrix for various antimicrobial applications. The work will be carried out by Dr. Grace and a postdoctoral fellow from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in collaboration with Civil Engineering, Materials Engineering and Microbiology, working closely with Kisameet representatives.