Arabian Journal of Geosciences (2021) 14: 2486

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08591-1

ORIGINAL PAPER

A holistic approach towards characterizing the El‑Oued siliceous sand

(eastern Algeria) for potential industrial applications
Nassima Meftah1,2 · Amina Hani1,2 · Abdelghani Merdas3 · Chaouki Sadik4 · Ali Sdiri5

Received: 11 June 2021 / Accepted: 8 October 2021 / Published online: 17 November 2021
© Saudi Society for Geosciences 2021

Abstract
Physicochemical, mineralogical, and thermogravimetric characterizations were carried out to assess the potential techno-
logical benefits of natural sand deposits from El-Oued district (eastern Algeria). The use of granulometric analysis, FTIR
spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM/EDX), and
thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis was necessary to further highlight the main physical and chemical properties of the
studied sands. The grain size distribution suggests fine-to-medium sands with a mean grain size ranged from 207 to 261 μm.
However, the grain micro-texture features indicate aeolian nature of El-Oued sand, and the chemical analysis reveals that all
samples contain a high ratio of silica (­ SiO2) reaching 94% with low content of CaO, A
­ l2O3, ­Fe2O3, ­Na2O, and K
­ 2O oxides,
which reflects the siliceous nature of El-Oued sand. The mineralogy of the El-Oued sand consists mainly of α-quartz (≤ 93%
­SiO2) with minor calcite ­(CaCO3) and very small amounts of feldspar mineral. Furthermore, the crystallite size of Quartz in
all sand samples was determined to be in the range of nanometric scale. Thermal analysis (TGA) showed that El-Oued sand
was relatively stable upon 800 °C. These characteristics corroborate the interesting and promising uses of El-Oued sand in
the industry and nanotechnology.

Keywords  Sand · Mineralogical and chemical characterization · α-Quartz · Rietveld refinement · Industrial applications

Responsible Editor: Fethi Lachaal
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Water Quality,
Global Changes and Groundwater Responses
* Nassima Meftah
meftahnassima@yahoo.fr
Ali Sdiri
ali.sdiri@enis.rnu.tn
1 such as glass, ceramics, separation, adsorption, catalysis,
Department of Physics, Faculty of Exact Sciences,
University of El-Oued, 39000 El‑Oued, Algeria
2 2016; Jeelani et al. 2020; Manzano and Vallet-Regí 2020;
VTRS Laboratory, University of El-Oued, P.O. Box 789,
39000 El‑Oued, Algeria
3 abundant minerals on earth is mainly present in sandstone,
Research Unit On Emerging Materials (RUEM), Department
of Civil Engineering, University Ferhat Abbas, Setif 1, Setif,
Algeria
4
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Applied Materials
(LPCMA), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences
Ben Msik, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Casablanca,
Morocco
5
Research Unit “Geomaterials, Structure in Civil Engineering
and Environment” (GESTE), National Engineering School,
University of Sfax, P.O. Box 1174‑3038, Sfax, Tunisia
Introduction
In the last two decades, silica material ­(SiO2) has brought
special attention due to its varied potential applications in
science and technology based on the encouraging physical
and chemical properties, as the low bulk density, hydro-
phobicity, electrical insulation, high thermal stability, high
surface area, optical transparency, and biocompatibility. Sili-
ceous material finds its way in a wide range of applications
optics, sensing, photonics, and biomedicine (Ammar et al.
Park and Kwon 2020). Moreover, ­SiO2 as one of the most
massive quartz, quartzite, or silica sand with variable crys-
talline forms (quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, stishovite, and
coesite) but rarely as amorphous vitreous silica. Therefore,
natural sand is the most promising source of siliceous mate-
rial (i.e., S
­ iO2); it is a granular unconsolidated material that
has grains size ranging from 0.0625 to 2 mm and ranging
from light red to black. It is well-known that silica sand is
mainly composed of quartz with low amounts of impurities

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such as clays, iron oxides, and other minerals (Ammar et al.
2016; Jeelani et al. 2020; Manzano and Vallet-Regí 2020;
Meftah and Mahboub 2020). Nowadays, high purity sili-
ceous materials ­(SiO2 > 99%) find their application in a wide
range of fields such as semiconductors, high-temperature
lamp tubing, telecommunications and optics, microelectron-
ics, and especially in photovoltaic silicon applications. Nev-
ertheless, natural silica sand may contain several impurities
(e.g., Al, Mg, K, and Fe) that would impact its technical
specifications (Bouabdallah et al. 2015; Elghniji et al. 2020).
Thus, silica sands are usually treated to remove impurities
before any further processing. In this context, various stud-
ies have been carried out to prepare pure silica from natural
sands using different routes, such as magnetic separation
(Bouabdallah et al. 2015; Haghi et al. 2016), acid leach-
ing (Sun et al. 2013; Kheloufi et al. 2017), a green purifi-
cation method (Li et al. 2016), reverse flotation technique,
and ultrasound processing (Haghi et al. 2016). For instance,
Khalifa et al. (2019) successfully attempted novel thermal
techniques to remove metallic impurities. They substantially
improved the purity of the silica contents to 99.9% ­SiO2.
Mineralogical identification and physicochemical characteri-
zation of the raw sand samples are fundamentally important
to determine the best purification procedure to get very high
purity silica-based materials; they are key steps to seek new
industrial and environmental applications in different fields.
It is in this perspective that we are attempting to perform a
detailed characterization of Algerian dune sand for potential
industrial applications. With its immense amounts of sand
dunes, the Algerian Saharan area is one of the largest aeolian
sand dune deposits in the world (about 2.4.106 ­km2). Those
natural materials are not being well exploited because of
the lack of sufficient and rigorous studies on the mineral-
ogy, microscopic, and systematic physicochemical charac-
terizations of aeolian sand deposits for their potential use in
several applications. Numerous studies have been carried
out to valorize the abundantly available aeolian sands from
Algeria (Abdelhak et al. 2014; Kheloufi et al. 2017; Mechri
et al. 2017; Mahdadi et al. 2017; Beddiaf et al. 2017; Has-
sani et al. 2019). Moreover, Guettala et al. (2010), Guettala
and Mezghiche (2011), and Brahim et al. (2017) extensively
studied the possibility of using dune sand powder as addi-
tion to Portland cement. They concluded that addition of
dune sand to a self-compacting concrete, to some extents,
was very interesting from an economic, environmental, and
technological point of view (Brahim et al. 2017). Similarly,
Zaitri et al. (2018) performed a physicochemical characteri-
zation of sand dune powder and recycled fine-based mor-
tars. Their results clearly indicated that the introduction of
sand dune has greatly improved mechanical properties and
workability of the final mortar mixtures. Among the most
important Algerian areas that expose prospective sand dune
deposits, one can cite the El-Oued city to the northeastern
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Arab J Geosci (2021) 14: 2486
Algerian Sahara where a continuous sand dunes feature of
the Grand Erg Oriental covered a vast and sunny region.
Such deposits have brought about an increased attention.
Recent literature indicated that only Meftah and Mahboub
(2020) examined the chemical and crystal structural proper-
ties of sand dune from the El-Oued city; they found that the
studied sand sample contained more than 97% of quartz,
indicating its potential uses in several industrial applications.
Therefore, an in-depth study for a comprehensive physico-
chemical characterization of the Grand Erg Oriental dune
sands is required to determine the main prospective appli-
cations of El-Oued sand. Within such context, the present
study proposed a physicochemical characterization and
mineralogical identification of sand dune samples collected
from several sites from the El-Oued area. The determination
of their prospective use as raw feed for different industrial
application may directly contribute to the sustainable devel-
opment of geomaterial sector in Algeria.
Materials and methods
Collection and preparation of aeolian sands
For the purpose of the current work, one hundred thirty-five
sand samples were collected from five different locations
(S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5) in the El-Oued area (Fig. 1). In each
selected barkhane, sand samples were collected from the
head to the bottom and from different depths before mixing
to get a single homogenous and representative sand sam-
ple. Hereafter, we use S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 to refer to the
homogenous sand dune samples. Prior to the chemical and
mineralogical analyses, subsamples were obtained by hand-
grinding using a glass mortar and pestle.
Physicochemical characterizations
The physicochemical properties of the collected sand sam-
ples (i.e., S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5) were addressed via several
characterization techniques. Special attention was paid to
grain size distribution, chemical and mineralogical com-
positions, and thermal behavior when subjected to heating.
The chemical composition of the collected sand samples
has been determined by a wavelength dispersive X-ray fluo-
rescence (WDXRF) spectrometer type Philips MagiX Pro-
XRF. The determination of the main functional groups by
Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) technique was carried out
at room temperature using a Shimadzu FTIR-8300 device
(Shimadzu Corp., Kyoto, Japan) running in the wavenum-
ber range of 4000–400 ­cm−1. Grain size distribution was
performed by dry sieving method in conformity with the
American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM). Washed
Arab J Geosci (2021) 14: 2486 Page 3 of 14 2486

Fig. 1  Map of Algeria showing

the location of the collected
sand dune in the El-Oued dis-
trict (reproduced from Meftah
and Mahboub (2020)

and oven-dried samples were sieved using a column of 2-,
1-, 0.5-, 0.4-, 0.315-, 0.25-, 0.160-, 0.125-, 0.100-, 0.080-,
0.063-, and 0.01-mm-sized sieves. Finally, the refusals on
each sieve were weighed and used to plot the granulometric
curves of the studied sand samples.
Apparent density (D in g/cm3) was calculated as the ratio
between dry samples mass to its volume as follows:
Weight of dry sand
D(g∕cm3 ) = (1)
Volume of dry sand
Morphological and elemental composition analysis
of El-Oued sand particles was carried out using scan-
ning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with an
energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometer type Phe-
nom Pro Desktop SEM (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.,
The Netherland). Mineralogical and crystal structural
characterization and qualitative and semi-quantitative
analysis were performed by using the X-ray diffraction
technique (XRD) using a Bruker diffractometer. This
apparatus operates with a wavelength λCuKα1 = 1.5406 Å
and scan step size of 0.02° over a 2θ range of 5° to ­90°.
Rietveld refinement of the experimental patterns was per-
formed by MAUD package for fitting experimental and
simulated patterns (Lutterotti 2000). Quantitative analy-
sis was achieved by Rietveld refinement for an accurate
determination of the main microstructural parameters
such as lattice parameters (a, c), microstrain (ε), and crys-
tallite size (D). Thermogravimetric experiment was con-
ducted on a TGA system, type DISCOVERY SDT-Q600
(TA Instruments, Paris, France). About 22 mg of sand
powder was heated from room temperature to 1000 °C
with heating rate of 10 °C/min under air atmosphere.

Table 1  Chemical analysis of El-Oued sand samples

Sample SiO2 CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 K2O MgO Na2O Zn Sr Zr Ba
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

S1 94.24 1.96 2.77 0.27 0.46 0.26 - - 0.003 0.005 0.020

S2 91.95 4.37 2.82 0.37 0.44 - - 0.007 0.005 0.010 0.020
S3 88.21 8.90 1.72 0.36 0.34 0.42 - 0.020 0.007 0.004 0.024
S4 88.71 7.36 1.50 0.29 0.30 0.37 1.40 0.018 0.007 0.005 0.030
S5 87.10 8.79 1.68 0.36 0.34 0.42 1.25 0,020 0.008 0.003 0.020
Sample SiO2/Al2O3 Fe2O3 + MgO(%) Al2O3/SiO2 Al2O3 + Na2O + K2O(%) CIA CIW
S1 34.03 0.53 0.029 3.23 58.56 58.56
S2 32.61 0.37 0.031 3.26 39.22 39.22
S3 51.28 0.78 0.019 2.06 16.20 16.20
S4 59.14 0.66 0.017 3.20 14.62 14.62
S5 51.85 0.78 0.019 3.27 14.33 14.33

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Results and discussion

Chemical analysis by wavelength dispersive X‑ray

fluorescence (WDXRF)

The chemical compositions of the studied sand sam-

ples (S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5) by WDXRF are shown in
Table 1. We point out that all the sand samples have high
silica contents (­ SiO 2) that ranged from 87.10 to 94.24%
and low amounts of calcium oxide (CaO). Obviously, the
S1 sample has the highest silica content (94.24%) and
the lowest calcium oxide percentage (1.96%); this was
not the case for the S5 sample that contains the lowest
silica content (87.1%) and the higher calcium oxides
(8.79%). As well, minor amounts of ­A l 2O 3, ­F e 2O 3, and
­K 2 O were also observed in all samples. The alumina
content reached 2.82% in the S2 sample; ­F e 2 O 3 and
­K 2O concentrations varied in the range 0.27–0.37% for
­Fe 2O 3 and 0.3–0.46% for K ­ 2O. Some other trace oxides,
including MgO, ZnO, SrO, ZrO, ­Na 2O, and BaO, were
also detected. Consequently, the high silica content in
the studied sand samples confirms their siliceous nature
and also reflects the quartz-rich nature of the El-Oued
dune sand. Nevertheless, the existing minor impurities
(i.e., ­A l 2 O 3 , CaO, and MgO) may affect the technical
specifications of the sands of the El-Oued area (Haghi
et al. 2016; Abdellaoui et al. 2018). The geochemistry
of oxides can provide insight into the samples’ prov-
enance as well as weathering conditions. The chemi-
cal maturity index (CMI), defined as the ratio between
­S iO 2 and A ­ l 2 O 3 abundance in the investigated sand
samples, ranges from 33 to 59 that indicates the high
chemical maturity of the analyzed samples. Further-
more, based on the binary variation diagram of ­S iO 2
versus ­A l 2 O 3  + ­K 2 O + ­Na 2 O (Suttner and Dutta 1986),
we noticed that all sand samples formed under semi-
arid/arid conditions. However, the low contents of K ­ 2O
and ­N a 2 O reveal the lower concentration of feldspar.
As well as, we validated that all the samples include
­F e 2 O 3  + MgO ≤ 0.8% and ­A l 2 O 3 /SiO 2  ≤ 0.3, indicat-
ing that they are associated with passive continental
margins, according to Bhatia (1983) tectonic diagram.
The chemical index of alteration (CIA) and the chemi-
cal index of weathering (CIW) are the most commonly
used index to assess the degree and duration of weather-
ing in deposits. The CIA is computed as [­ Al 2O 3 × 100/
(Al 2 O 3  + ­N a 2 O + CaO + ­K 2 O)] (Nesbitt and Young
1982), and the CIW is computed as [­Al 2 O 3  × 100/
(Al 2O 3 + CaO + ­Na 2O)]. As shown in Table 1, the CAI
and CIW values of the El-Oued sand samples suggest a
moderate to a high degree of chemical weathering and
environmental condition (Fedo et al. 1995).
Fig. 2  FTIR absorption spectrums of El-Oued S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5
sand samples
Fourier‑transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
FTIR spectra of the studied sand samples (i.e., S1, S2, S3,
S4, and S5) are shown in Fig. 2. They revealed similar char-
acteristic bands mainly in the fingerprint region, where
we distinguished characteristic absorption bands of silica
at 459, 692, 779, 794, 1080, 1170, and 1878 ­cm−1, corre-
sponding to symmetric stretching and bending vibration of
Si–O and Si–O–Si bond (Mechri et al. 2017; Kumar and
Rajkumar 2020). Moreover, double absorption bands at 794
and 779 ­cm−1 in all the spectra confirmed the presence of
α-quartz. The absorption bands at 714, 875, 1425, 1794, and
2513 ­cm−1 were attributed to the C = O stretching mode, the
asymmetric stretching (ν3), out-of-plane bending (ν2), and
in-plane bending (ν4) modes of (­ CO3)2− (Sdiri et al. 2010),
which are evidence of the presence of calcite mineral. The
broad band at 3426 ­cm−1 can be assigned to water O–H
bending and/or silanol groups stretching.
Grain size distribution of El‑Oued sand
Particle size distribution of a given sand is a crucial tex-
tural parameter for the determination of its suitability
for various applications (Saleh et al. 2015; Diago et al.
2018; Osseni et al. 2019); it can provide information on
the conditions of transportation, sorting, and deposition
of the studied sand (Lancaster et al. 2002; Zhang et al.
2020). Granulometric curves of the S1, S2, S3, S4, and
S5 samples are given in Fig. 3. All curves showed simi-
lar sigmoid shapes with a slight variation among the
samples. It can be observed that approximately 90% by

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uniformity coefficient (Cu = D60 ∕D10 ) , which provides an

indication of the uniformity of the particle sizes, and the
coefficient of curvature (Cc = D230 ∕D10 ∗ D60 ) were deter-
mined. According to ASTM D2487-17e1 (ASTM D2487
2017), S1, S3, and S5 samples are classified as uniformly
(poorly) graded sand. Granulometric data, bulk density,
and pH of the studied sand samples are summarized in
Table 2. Because of the high temperature in the Saharan
El-Oued area, moisture contents of the studied samples did
not exceed 0.51%. Bulk density ranged between 1.64 and
1.68 g/cm3, where pH measurements suggested an alkaline
nature (8.24 ≤ pH ≤ 8.85) probably because of the presence
of several impurities (Meftah and Mahboub 2020).

Image processing and grain shape assessment

Fig. 3  Granular curves of the studied sand samples from El-Oued
region
mass of grains are uniformly distributed between 160
and 400 μm, while the S2 and S5 sand samples are fin-
est among all. According to the Gradistat program results
(Table 2) (Blott and Pye 2001), the mean grain size (Mz)
of S2, S3, S4, and S5 samples were calculated to 211, 218,
243, and 207 μm, respectively, proving a fine sand grade
(100–250 μm), whereas the S1 has mean grain size equal
to 261 μm, indicating a medium sand rank (> 250 μm). We
note this classification is similar to the sands found in the
Arabian Peninsula, China, and North Africa (Elipe and
López-Querol 2014). The sorting or the standard devia-
tion (σI) for S2 and S5 samples was 0.804 and 0.797 μm,
respectively, indicating very well-sorted, and for S3
and S4 samples were 0.725 and 0.743 μm, respectively,
indicating well-sorted sand. However, the S1 sample is
moderately well-sorted with σI equal to 0.699 μm. The
ImageJ, a freely available program (Kumara et al. 2012),
was used as a handy tool for the assessment of various
shape parameters of the representative sand sample S3
which showed important grain number that would allow
a credible statistical summary. Numerous parameters
detailed in this work include area, perimeter, circular-
ity, roundness, Feret diameter, AR, and solidity (Cox and
Budhu 2007; Kumara et al. 2012; Vippola et al. 2016). For
this paper, we used SEM images for the investigation and
quantification of the main shape parameters via the appli-
cation of a computer-based methodology, as described in
Kumara et al. (2012). A schematic explanation of the main
processing steps is shown in Fig. 4. Briefly, the desired
SEM image was scaled using set scale option; then, it
was made binary before processing and analyzing parti-
cles. Results can be obtained for each grain of the sample
studied. Table 3 summarized the main shape parameters
computed for the El-Oued samples. Those values are the
average of automatically or manually selected sand grains.
It appeared that the calculated area (in µm 2), perimeter,

Table 2  Granulometric parameters of the studied sand samples

Sample Median (Md) (µm) Mean size (Mz) (µm) Sorting (σi) (µm) Cc Cu Density (g/cm3) pH

S1 250 260.6 0.699 0.95 1.67 1.64 8.7

S2 217.5 211.7 0.804 1.08 1.38 1.66 8.85
S3 210.4 218.2 0.725 0.93 1.40 1.68 8.67
S4 239.3 243.2 0.743 0.96 1.53 1.66 8.24
S5 215.8 207.3 0.797 1.17 1.48 1.67 8.59
Sample D10 (µm) D30 (µm) D50 (µm) D60 (µm) D70 (µm) D75 (µm) D90 (µm) D95 (µm)
S1 170 213.7 250.4 283.7 321.83 339.2 414.2 470.5
S2 164.9 201.35 217.66 226.8 234.97 239.68 273.83 303.24
S3 160.05 182.85 210.09 224.24 242.07 252.58 331.55 382.02
S4 169.38 205.67 239.68 259.8 290.21 305.83 359.44 379.86
S5 151.45 199.36 215.82 224.24 233.32 236.98 253.66 284.51

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Fig. 4  SEM image of a rep-

resentative sand sample (S3).
Binary conversion, thresholded
image, outlines, and particle
count using ImageJ program

Table 3  Grain shape parameters Area (µm2) Perimeter (µm) Circularity Feret (µm) Aspect ratio Roundness Solidity
computed for the studied
El-Oued sand samples S1 89,110.38 1293.75 0.65 433.81 1.65 0.63 0.92
S2 53,779.81 909.46 0.79 293.04 1.22 0.83 0.97
S3 16,424.55 614.63 0.61 193.92 1.74 0.63 0.87
S4 54,100.56 998.03 0.66 335.31 1.79 0.61 0.92
S5 35,776.23 783.9 0.71 256.81 1.32 0.76 0.95

and Feret diameter were positively correlated (Table 4), while S3 exhibited the lowest average area. This indicated
indicating that dimensions of the grains are interdepend- that S1 was coarser than S2, S3, S4 and S5, further con-
ent. This is expected regardless of the fineness of the sand. firming the results of sieving analysis. Similar trends were
Measured areas showed the highest values in S1 sample, observed for both perimeter and Feret diameter.

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Table 4  Correlation matrix of Area Perimeter Circularity Feret Aspect ratio Roundness Solidity
the shape parameters computed
for the studied El-Oued sand Area 1
samples
Perimeter 0.9852 1
Circularity n. c n. c 1
Feret 0.9733 0.9979 n. c 1
Aspect ratio n. c n. c  − 0.812 n. c 1
Roundness n. c n. c 0.8625 n. c  − 0.9669 1
Solidity n. c n. c 0.8746 n. c  − 0.7054 0.6655 1

n. c., not correlated; minus sign indicated negative correlation

Fig. 5  Backscattered electron microphotograph of the studied sand
dune grains. a Optical image of the sand showing the different
colors of S2 sample; b image of S1 grain sample showing straight/
curved grooves (connected arrow) and scratches (dashed arrow); c
image of S2 grain sample showing conchoidal fractures (connected
white arrow), V-shaped shock traces (connected black arrow), and
small pits on the surface of quartz grain (dashed arrow); d image of
S3 grains sample showing several shapes of grains sand (R, rounded
outline; A, angular shape; S, sub-rounded grains; and E, elongated
grains); e image of S4 grain sample showing bulbous edges (dashed
arrow) and crescentic percussion marks (connected arrow); f image
of S5 grain sample showing V-shaped shock traces (connected black
arrow); g image of sand grains showing straight/curved grooves
and solution crevasses (dashed arrow) and solution pits (connected
arrow); h image of sand grains showing straight/curved grooves
and solution crevasses (dashed arrow) and solution pits (connected
arrow); i SEM microphotograph of sand dune grains showing adher-
ing particles

Morphology and EDX analysis microscope; virtually all the grains are transparent with
yellow, white, and red color. In addition, a small amount of
Firstly, the sand samples were examined by an optical grains is opaque white, milky, gray, and red (Fig. 5a). The

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2486 Page 8 of 14
colors of sand grain refer to their dominant compositions and
their incorporated impurities. A recent study addressed the
reason behind sand coloration found that transparent sand
grains mainly composed high purity quartz. This was not
the case for Hassani et al. (2019) who found that quartz
­(SiO2) was the dominant mineral in the reddish and yellow-
ish sands. Backscattered electron (BSE) images of the sand
samples were also obtained by scanning electron micros-
copy to assess the shape, morphology, and micro-texture
of El-Oued sand grains. Figure 5 showed sand grains with
rounded, sub-rounded, flat elongated, angular, and sub-angu-
lar shape. A detailed study of the grain shape parameters was
given by using ImageJ program, as explained earlier in the
text. Usually, the shape of grains depended on the transpor-
tation process and the original grain shape of the source rock
(Kleesment 2009; Costa et al. 2013; Resentini et al. 2018).
High roundness values (> 0.61) for the El-Oued sand grains
may be attributed to a long transportation path (Madhavaraju
et al. 2009; Itamiya et al. 2019). However, the sub-angular
outline suggests that the sand grains were deposited near
their source region. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 5, several
features of mechanical and chemical action are obvious in
the surface of different sand grains, such as the abundance
of small and medium conchoidal fractures, V-shaped shock
traces, straight/curved grooves, and scratches, dish-shaped
concavities, crescentic percussion marks, bulbous edges,
Fig. 6  EDX analyses of the S4 and S5 sand grains
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Arab J Geosci (2021) 14: 2486
solution pits, solution crevasses, and adhering particles.
These micro-texture features observed on the surface of sand
grains with collision and abrasion marks reflect that El-Oued
sand formed in an aeolian environment with high-velocity
winds afterward it was exposed to chemical alteration. Such
a qualitative evaluation was confirmed by the main shape
descriptors (Feret diameter, circularity, aspect ratio, and
roundness) as shown in Table 3. It is well understood that
circularity measures the elongation of the grain (Prakongkep
et al. 2010); circularity substantially decreased in elongated
grain where the aspect ratio increased (Table 3; Table 4).
This is expected since the aspect ratio described the ratio
between major and minor axes of the particle’s fitted ellipse.
Higher circularity of a grain indicated a long transportation
journey. The EDX technique provides a semi-quantitative
analysis of chemical elements that compose grains of sand
samples (Fig. 6). EDX elemental composition of the selected
grains from El-Oued sand samples, corresponding to one
spot for each grain of sand, is given in Table 5. On the basis
of EDX results, the oxygen and silicon elements are the main
components across all samples and more abundant in S1
and S5 samples. These data state that silica ­(SiO2) is the
dominant mineral in all El-Oued sand samples. However,
small proportions of Al (≤ 8.7%) were shown in roughly all
the sand grains, which confirms that quartz contains some
impurities of aluminum. Also, other impurities were found
Arab J Geosci (2021) 14: 2486 Page 9 of 14 2486

Table 5  SEM/EDX analyses of Sample Grains Chemical composition

selected grains from the studied
sand samples (% by weight) O kα Si kα Al kα Mg kα Fe kα K kα Na kα Ca kα

S1 G1 66.63 25.64 6.07 1.67 - - - -

G2 73.98 19.92 4.27 - 1.84 - - -
G3 73.84 6.04 1.68 - - - - 18.44
S2 G1 64.83 2.75 1.33 - - - - 31.09
G2 68.83 18.08 8.66 - - 4.43 - -
G3 72.24 24.53 3.22 - - - - -
S3 G1 75.73 19.88 2.86 1.52 - - - -
G2 61.58 18.79 5.97 - 4.15 9.51 - -
G3 73.92 4.41 1.74 1.40 - - - 18.53
S4 G1 60.19 22.57 2.34 - 10.22 - - 4.68
G2 63.52 22.77 6.80 3.62 - - - 3.29
G3 64.71 17.90 8.00 - - - 9.39 -
S5 G1 67.80 23.55 6.30 2.35 - - - -
G2 58.86 37.18 1.92 - - - - 2.04
G3 78.12 19.57 2.30 - - - - -

JCPDS cards. Based on the PDF card (# 46–1045), the

Fig. 7  XRD patterns of the El-Oued sand samples
in some silica grains such as iron (≤ 10.2%), magnesium
(≤ 3.6%), potassium, and sodium. A very few numbers of
grains have more ratio of calcium (Ca) than silicon; evi-
dently, these grains represent the calcite mineral.
Mineralogy of El‑Oued sand
Figure 7 shows the X-ray patterns of S1, S2, S3, S4, and
S5 sand samples of the El-Oued region. These diffracto-
grams affirm that all the samples of sand have high crystal-
line nature, which agrees with the results of Meftah and
Mahboub 2020. The minerals’ identification was carried
out by the X’Pert HighScore program and by using the
three major reflections and d values of d(100) = 4.2377 Å,
d(011) = 3.3335  Å, and d(112) = 1.8161  Å corroborate the
presence of the α-quartz ­(SiO2) mineral in all the samples.
As well as, according to PDF card (# 47–1743), the major
reflections and  d \-spacing values of d (104) = 3.0255  Å,
d(018) = 1.906 Å, and d(116) = 1.8726 Å fit to calcite ­(CaCO3)
mineral (Meftah and Mahboub 2020). Moreover, a peak with
d-spacing of d(002) = 3.1852 Å was identified correspond-
ing to the sanidine mineral (K(AlSi3O8)) according to PDF
card (#00–025–0618) (Taylor 1933). Also, ordered calcian
albite mineral (Na,Ca)Al(Si,Al)3O8 was identified with a
reflection and d-spacing of d(021) = 3.2408 Å using the PDF
card (#00–041-1480) (Oglesbee et al. 2020). The Rietveld
refinements of XRD patterns provide a semi-quantitative
assessment of the major crystalline phases that constitute
the sand samples. Furthermore, the microstructural param-
eters such as the space group, lattice parameters, crystallite
size, and microstrain have been determined and summarized
in Table 6. The semi-quantitative analysis of crystalline
phases exhibits that the α-quartz with a hexagonal structure
­(P3121 (154)) is the dominant phase in all the sand samples,
while the S1 sample contains the highest ratio of 93.5%. The
quartz abundance corroborates the siliceous nature of the El-
Oued sand samples. The calculated crystallite size of quartz
in S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 samples is in the range of 331.18
to 3637.5 nm. This nanometric crystallite size of El-Oued
sand makes it a promising material for nanotechnology and
industry (Davtyan et al. 2012; Saleh et al. 2015; Taufiq et al.
2020). Additionally, all the sand samples consist of calcite
with a rhombohedral crystal system (R͞3c(167)) as a minor
phase, with percentages ranging from 3.2 to 17.2%, and a
very low amount of albite ((Na,Ca)AlSi3O8) and sanidine

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Table 6  Microstructural refined Samples Phases α-Quartz Calcite Albite Sanidine

parameters of El-Oued sand
samples Chemical formula SiO2 CaCO3 AlNaSi3O8 AlKSi3O8
Crystal structure Hexagonal Trigonal Orthorhombic Monoclinic
Space group P3121 R-3c:H Pmnn:cab C2/m:b1
a(Å) 4.915 4.99 1.593 8.002
b(Å) 4.915 4.99 8.652 13.083
c(Å) 5.406 17.047 4.902 7.098
β(°) - - - 115.71
S1 Crystallite size (nm) 3637.5 100.018 100.355 100
Microstrain (%) 2.39E-04 8.88E-06 7.86E-04 6.00E-04
Percentage (%) 93.5 3.2 1.8 1.5
Goodness of fit (GOF) 1.73
a(Å) 4.914 4.983 1.511 9.990
b(Å) 4.914 4.983 8.754 8.213
c(Å) 5.406 17.049 4.842 7.088
β(°) - - - 115.898
S2 Crystallite size (nm) 31.177 100.148 514.357 168.137
Microstrain (%) 3.79E-04 9.50E-04 3.85E-04 4.20E-04
Percentage (%) 91.34 5.15 3.27 0.24
Goodness of fit (GOF) 1.73
a(Å) 4.916 4.987 6.174 8.412
b(Å) 4.916 4.987 8.672 12.745
c(Å) 5.408 17.048 4.894 7.125
β(°) - - - 116.249
S3 Crystallite size (nm) 2168.027 151.148 107.377 90.701
Microstrain (%) 2.56E-04 6.99E-04 5.91E-04 1.51E-04
Percentage (%) 80.08 11.16 4.87 3.89
Goodness of fit (GOF) 1.68
a(Å) 4.915 4.986 4.260 7.999
b(Å) 4.915 4.986 8.757 12.977
c(Å) 5.406 17.051 4.828 7.154
β(°) - - - 115.884
S4 Crystallite size (nm) 663.22 137.8422 104.119 100
Microstrain (%) 1.79E-04 7.05E-04 4.32E-04 6.00E-04
Percentage (%) 81.99 14.31 1.76 1.94
Goodness of fit (GOF) 1.68
a(Å) 4.915 4.987 6.492 8.394
b(Å) 4.915 4.987 8.749 12.881
c(Å) 5.408 17.045 4.836 7.127
β(°) - - - 116.458
S5 Crystallite size (nm) 1002.586 159.564 100.004 100.0002
Microstrain (%) 2.61E-04 6.60E-04 6.08E-04 6.01E-04
Percentage (%) 78.75 17.17 1.68 2.4
Goodness of fit (GOF) 1.71

(­ KAlSi3O8) minerals. In summary and as reveal in EDX and
WDXRF analysis, the sand samples collected from the El-
Oued region mainly consist of α-quartz (­ SiO2 ≥ 93%) with
minor calcite mineral and very small amounts of feldspar
mineral.
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
TGA curves obtained between room temperature and
1000  °C are shown in Fig.  8. All the sand samples
revealed a similar decomposition trend, and two-step
weight losses were witnessed. The first loss in the sand

13
Arab J Geosci (2021) 14: 2486 Page 11 of 14 2486

2019). As shown in Fig. 8, the S1 sand sample has a lower

loss mass of about 0.83%, meaning the low content of
calcite in this sample and high content of quartz, which
confirm by DRX and WDXRF analysis. However, the
S5 sand sample has a higher loss mass of about 5.75%.
Above 800 °C, no further weight loss was observed indi-
cating thermal stability of El-Oued sand.

Potential applications and selection criteria

Potential industrial and/or environmental applications

Fig. 8  Thermal curves of the studied sand dunes samples
samples mass of approximately 0.25 to 0.76% occurred
before 600 °C, confirming the elimination of free and
interstitial water and/or the structured water. Moreover,
the oxidation/decomposition reactions of organic mat-
ter and the dihydroxylation of clay minerals took place
between 400 and 600 °C (Sun et al. 2016; Nigay et al.
2017). The second weight loss observed between 600
and 786 °C is attributed to the decomposition of calcium
carbonate content (Diago et al. 2018; Karunadasa et al.
of the studied sand samples mainly depended on three
major selection criteria including grain size distribution,
chemical compositions, and the color of sand (Platias
et al. 2014). For an appropriate choice of the most prom-
ising industrial application, typical physical and chemical
requirements were given in Tables 7 and 8. A compara-
tive study was also summarized in Table 7. Bendida et al.
(2013) successfully valorized aeolian sands from Bechar,
Algeria, for domestic wastewater treatment based on
chemical criteria. Leghrieb et al. (2012) also manufac-
tured raw bricks with plausible mechanical properties. It
appeared that the obtained chemical, mineralogical com-
positions, and grain size of the El-Oued sand samples are
slightly higher; confirming their possible use for bricks
and sand filters (Table 7). When compared to the technical
specifications for the glass industry, the studied El-Oued

Table 7  Typical quality Type of application SiO2 Mini- Other elements Reference

requirements for potential sand mum (%) Maximum (%)
application
Flat glass 98.5 1.3 (Ben Salah et al. 2016)
Optical glass 99.5 0.73 and (Osseni et al. 2019)
Colored glass 97.0 0.60
Glass wool 98.0 0.30
Ceramics 97.5 1.25
Foundry 95.0 1.99
Clear glass grade 99.5 0.50 Vatalis et al. (2015)
Semiconductor filter, LCD and optical glass 99.80 0.20
“High purity quartz” 99.95 0.05
High purity silicon powder 98.00 - Darghouth et al. (2020)
Water and wastewater treatment packed bed 97.11 - Abdelhak et al. (2014)
Domestic wastewater treatment 91.09 8.91 Bendida et al. (2013)
Sand-based bricks 86.60 11.47 Leghrieb et al. (2012)
Taghit, Bechar (Algeria) 98.20 0.36 Hadjadj and Chihi (2020)
El-Oued 97.63 1.03 Meftah and Mahboub
(2020)
S1 94.24 3.04 This study
S2 91.95 3.29
S3 88.21 2.08
S4 88.71 1.79
S5 87.10 2.04

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2486 Page 12 of 14 Arab J Geosci (2021) 14: 2486

Table 8  Physical characterization of the studied samples and comparison to washed sand dune from different sites

Equivalent diam- Uniformity coef- Permeability Absolute den- Porosity (%) References
eter (mm) ficient (CU) 10−4 (m/s) sity (g/cm3)

Beni abbes 0.22 1.39 0.976 2.63 41.39 Abdelhak et al. (2014)
Taghit 0.19 1.23 0.906 2.55 42.28
Timimoun 0.17 1.91 0.983 2.56 38.14
Natural sand of Beni 0.17 1.76 2.63 42.00 Bendida et al. (2013)
Abbes Bechar
S1 0.27 1.67 1.64 This study
S2 0.20 1.38 1.66
S3 0.19 1.40 1.68
S4 0.27 1.53 1.66
S5 0.20 1.48 1.67

sands failed to meet the requirements for glass industry
without further treatment (Table 7). Nevertheless, El-Oued
sand grains are good candidates for solar energy storage,
especially as solar distillers (Diago et al. 2018; Attia et al.
2021). These sands may be excavated for self-compacting
concrete confection (Guettala et al. 2010; Guettala and
Mezghiche 2011; Izemmouren et al. 2015; Brahim et al.
2017; Zaitri et al. 2018). Physical characterization of stud-
ied samples were comparable values to that of washed
sands from different sites (Table 8); the potential use in
concrete and other construction materials is another practi-
cal option (Table 7). Compared to other relevant studies
in Algeria, the aeolian sand deposit of El-Oued area is
an important strategic material for several industrial and
environmental applications. The prospective use for photo-
voltaic applications requires further analysis and treatment
to remove harmful impurities.
was in favor of nanotechnology and other industrial applica-
tions. Those physicochemical characteristics suggested that
these sands can be excavated for concrete, foundry, ceramic
industry, and also solar energy storage but not for glass man-
ufacturing. Consequently, these potential uses promote the
exploitation and exploration of the sand dune as local geo-
resources, thereby contributing directly to the sustainable
development of the geomaterial sector in Algeria.
Acknowledgements  We acknowledge the two reviewers for their
constructive and insightful comments. The authors are thankful to the
Chemistry Laboratory of the Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of
El-Oued, Algeria, for granting us total access to the laboratory that
helped to carry out this study.
Author contribution  All authors contributed to the study conception
and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were
performed by Nassima Meftah and Amina Hani. The first draft of the
manuscript was written by Nassima Meftah, and all authors commented
on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved
the final manuscript.

Data availability  No data were used elsewhere to support this study,

Conclusion and it was entirely a new set of data.

Physicochemical, mineralogical, and thermal investigations Declarations 

of El-Oued sand from the Algerian desert were carried out
using granulometric analysis, FTIR, XRF, XRD, SEM/EDX,
and TG–DTA analyses. Our results indicated well-sorted
and fine- to medium-sized sands. SEM and software pro-
cessing reflected that El-Oued sand grains are well rounded
due to the aeolian environment with long transportation and
significant chemical alterations. Chemical analysis by XRF,
FTIR, and EDX showed high silica contents (94.24%) with
subordinate impurities (carbonates and other minor oxides
as ­Al2O3, ­Fe2O3, ­Na2O, MgO). This was confirmed by XRD
technique. In addition, the crystallite size of quartz in all
sand samples is in the range of 331 to 3637 nm. Thermal
analysis (TG–DTA) showed that El-Oued sand was rela-
tively stable up to 800 °C. The nanometric crystallite size
Conflict of interest  The authors declare no competing interests.
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