Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T20:51:28.514Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Stability of hectorite in weakly acidic solutions. III. Adsorption of heavy metal cations and hectorite solubility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

Kevin G. Tiller*
Affiliation:
Division of Soils, C.S.I.R.O., Adelaide, South Australia

Abstract

The heavy metal cations studied were adsorbed by hectorite suspended in 0.05 M calcium chloride as a pH-dependent reaction in the order, Cu > Zn > (Co, Mn) > Ni. The adsorption of heavy metal cations was accompanied by the removal from solution of silicic acid released by clay dissolution. It is proposed that the reaction takes place on edge surfaces such that the clay lattice is effectively extended. This result complements other work in which it has been shown that the adsorption of silicic acid by other silicate clays results in an increased adsorption of zinc, cobalt and nickel. The present study did not provide evidence of the exchange of zinc and other cations for lattice magnesium.

The solubility of hectorite was decreased in the presence of heavy metal cations in the same order that favoured their adsorption. It is proposed that they limit the dissolution of hectorite in weakly acidic solutions by adsorption on or near the sites most prone to proton attack, that is, the magnesium ions of the octahedral layer exposed at edges and defects.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1968

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

Caillère, S. & Hénin, M.S. (1961) Colloq. Centre Nat. Rech. Sci. (Paris) No. 105, 31.Google Scholar
Elgabaly, M.M. (1950) Soil Sci. 69, 167.Google Scholar
Garrels, R.M. (1960) Mineral Equilibria at Low Temperature and Pressure. Harper, New York.Google Scholar
Grim, R.E. (1953) Clay Mineralogy. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Hodgson, J.F., Tiller, K.G. & Fellows, Mart.A.(1964) Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 28, 42.Google Scholar
Rankama, K. & Sahama, J.G. (1950) Geochemistry. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Tiller, K.G. & Hodgson, J.F. (1962) Clays Clay Miner. 9, 393.Google Scholar
Tiller, K.G. (1968a) Clay Miner. 7, 245.Google Scholar
Tiller, K.G. (1968b) Clay Miner. 7, 261.Google Scholar
Tiller, K.G. (1968c) Transactions of the Ninth International Congress on Soil Science, Adelaide, Vol. 2, 567.Google Scholar