The reactions of zinc,zinc chloride and zinc oxide with coal. An x-ray diffraction study

The reactions of zinc chloride and zinc oxide with coal have been studied using X-ray diffraction to monitor the 002 graphite line. It was observed that reaction of either reagent causes this diffraction line to disappear. Furthermore, addition of zinc metal reduces the weight of zinc chloride or zinc oxide needed to remove this 002 diffraction. Experiments with magnesium compounds indicate that the results with zinc compounds and coal cannot be extended to the analogous magnesium species. Thus it appears that zinc chloride or zinc oxide are capable of breaking up some of the regularity of the coal structure. This effect is enhanced by zinc metal indicating the possibility of a reaction in which zinc is switching between the elemental and oxidized forms.