Based on mineralogical and technological investigations of the deposit 'Greda' important characteristics of bentonite clay were determined. Representative samples of the deposit were characterized with X-ray diffraction, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, chemical analysis, differential thermal analysis and scanning electron microscopy. It was determined that the main mineral is montmorillonite and in subordinate quantities kaolinite, quartz and pyrite. The chemical composition generally shows high silica and alumina contents in all samples and small quantities of Fe3+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ cations. Based on technological and mineralogical research, bentonite from this deposit is a high-quality raw material for use in the ceramic industry.

Nanoemulsion technique, based on Ouzo effect, was applied for synthesis of the pure and silver doped (2.5 and 5mol%) calcium hydroxyapatite (HAp). After calcination at 500?C fully crystallized powders were obtained. X-ray powder diffraction analysis accompanied with Rietveld refinement revealed that the synthesized powders were single-phase hydroxyapatite. Raman spectroscopy also confirmed that the synthesized powders were single-phase. The obtained HAp particles were spherical in shape and their sizes were in the nanometer range which was revealed by field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis (FESEM). The successful synthesis of the single-phase Ag doped HAp showed that nanoemulsion method is a simple technique for obtaining pure and doped hydroxyapatite nanospheres.