Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-sv6ng Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-16T15:29:26.572Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Structural Charge Density as Indicated by Montmorillonite Hydration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Edward C. Jonas
Affiliation:
The University of Texas, Austin, USA
Herman E. Roberson
Affiliation:
Harpur College, Binghamton, New York, USA

Abstract

A sodium-saturated Texas bentonite was fractionated into six particle-size ranges. The expansion of each fraction was observed by X-ray diffraction under controlled humidity conditions ranging from 0–100 per cent r.h. At all humidities, the fine fractions expanded more than the coarse. A single size fraction expands through a series 10 Å, 12.4 Å and 15.5 Å. The expansion from 10–12.4 Å occurs at progressively lower relative humidities for smaller size fractions in the same way as the expansion from 12.4–15.5 Å. The gradation from high resistance to expansion in the coarse fractions to low resistance to expansion in the fine fractions appears to be continuous.

Interlayer cation density, which controls the resistance to expansion, is dependent upon the structural charge density on the silicate layer. The continuous variation of resistance to expansion that is a function of particle size is interpreted to indicate a corresponding continuous variation in structural charge with particle size.

Type
General Session
Copyright
Copyright © The Clay Minerals Society 1964

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bradley, W. F., Weiss, E. J., and Rowland, R. A. (1963) A glycol-sodium vermiculite complex, Clays and Clay Minerals, 10th Conf. [1961], pp. 117–22, Pergamon Press, New York.Google Scholar
Byrne, P. J. S. (1954) Some observations on montmorillonite organic complexes, Clays and Clay Minerals, Natl. Acad. Sci.—Natl. Res. Council, Publ. 327, pp. 241–53.Google Scholar
Gillery, F. H. (1959) Adsorption-desorption characteristics of synthetic montmorillon- oids in humid atmospheres, Am. Mineralogist 44, 806–18.Google Scholar
Grim, R. E. (1953) Clay Mineralogy, McGraw-Hill, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hauser, E. A., and Reed, C. E. (1939) Development of a new method for measuring particle size distribution in colloidal systems, J. Phys. Chem. 40, 1169–73.Google Scholar
Johns, W. D., and Tettenhorst, R. T. (1959) Differences in montmorillonite solvating ability of polar liquids, Am. Mineralogist 44, 894–6.Google Scholar
Jonas, E. C., and Roberson, H. E. (1960) Particle size as a factor influencing expansion of the three-layer clay minerals, Am. Mineralogist 45, 828–38.Google Scholar
McAtee, J. L. (1958) Heterogeneity in montmorillonite, Clays and Clay Minerals, Nat. Acad. Sci.—Nat. Res. Council, Publ. 566, pp. 279–88.Google Scholar
Messina, M. L. (1964) Expansion of fractionated montmorillonites under various relative humidities, Clays and Clay Minerals, 12th Conf. [1963], pp. 617–32, Pergamon Press, New York.Google Scholar
Roberson, H. E. (1964) Petrology of tertiary bentonites of Texas, J. Sediment. Petrol. 34, 401–11.Google Scholar
Roth, R. S. (1951) The structure of montmorillonite in relation to the occurrence and properties of certain bentonites: Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois.Google Scholar
Van Olphen, H. (1963) Compaction of clay sediments in the range of molecular particle distances, Clay and Clay Minerals, 11th Conf. [1962], pp. 178–87, Pergamon Press, New York.Google Scholar