To decrease thc abnormally large amounts of Al, Fe, and Mg compared with other elements, and to alleviate the problems with plant growth, such as early withering, we mixed various kinds of rock mentioned before together and then extracted the minerals. The result was a larger decrease in the amounts of Al, Fe, and Mg by at least one order of magnitude than the decrease of the other elements.
Furthermore, as the properties of the solution differed depending on the make-up of the rock whether it is granite or basalt or serpentine, according to the results mentioned earlier, we can say that it is possible to extract minerals that are suitabie for such purposes as physiological activation, surface activation and contaminated water purification.
2.2. Mineral structure
Figures 1 and 2 are microphotographs (from scanning and transmission electron microscopes, receptively) showing the size of the micro-crystals in the minerals. Figure 1 shows the fractures seen in an undiluted mineral solution that was rapidly quenched in liquid nitrogen. It shows that the undiluted mineral solution consisted of 1000 A-diameter globutes that grouped together in twos and threes. Because this solution recrystallized over time, we diluted it with pure water by a factor of ten so that it would not recrystallize. It was then rapidly quenched in liquid nitrogen. Figure 2 shows this diluted solution. Figure 2 shows circular and semicircular particles that ranged in diameter from 100 A-300 A. The photo shows that the 300 A semicircular particles were actually made up of densely-packed smaller particles. The particles dispersed around the 100-300 A particles were about 20 A in diameter.
Fig. 1. An SEM photograph of minerals.
