Characteristics Serpentine Aceh: Morphology and Chemical Compositions Studied by SEM-EDS and XRF

Carbon dioxide is a dangerous pollutant that harms the environment and triggers global warming, which causes greenhouse gases. Serpentine is a rock rich in magnesium silicate, which can be used to reduce carbon dioxide pollutants through adsorption technology. Aceh Province has the potential for serpentine rocks, which can be processed to adsorb carbon dioxide pollutants. This research examines the characteristics of serpentine based on its morphology and chemical composition as a carbon dioxide adsorbing material. The serpentine aceh was obtained from Indrapuri Regency, Aceh Province. The thermal activation stage is as follows: serpentine aceh is collected, cleaned, reduced in size, and dried, then serpentine aceh is ground to a size of 50 mesh (297–149 µm), 100 mesh (149–94 µm) and 150 mesh (94–74 μm). The serpentine aceh was thermally activated using a furnace at 750 °C for 1.5 hours for all particle sizes. The characterization of serpentine aceh, which consists of morphological and chemical structure analysis using scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and chemical composition using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The results show that the characteristics of serpentine aceh before being activated have a lizardite and chrysotile structure with a chemical composition of SiO 2 38.83% and MgO 29.95%, and after being thermally activated, serpentine aceh has an antigorite structure with a chemical composition of SiO 2 45.42% and MgO 36.83% at 150 mesh. This research contributes to utilizing one of Aceh's natural mineral resources, serpentine rock, as an alternative CCS material to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.