The use of clay materials as selective sorbents for different contaminants requires very efficient methods. A natural kaolinite was calcined to metakaolinite and than rehydrated at different temperatures to produce a highly porous sorbent. The kinetics of this process were measured, with subsequent IR characterization of the phases formed. The surface and pore distribution of new phases were also assigned. In addition, the kaolinite obtained was pre-treated with Fe3+ ions to improve its sorption affinity for anionic particles. The rehydrated kaolinite and its Fe-modification were used for the adsorption of toxic cations (Zn, Cd, Pb) and anions (As, Se). Adsorption capacities depending on the physical chemical properties of the initial solution (pH, concentration of toxic ions) and the surface properties of the sorbent (specific surface area, modification method) were investigated. The adsorption properties of the sorbents were defined by the Langmuir model.

Magnetite-rich waste from a niobium mine near Araxá, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, was heated to 500°C and 1000°C under an O2 atmosphere. The original waste and its oxidized products were characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), room-temperature 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR).

Semiquantitative analyses by EDS and quantitative chemical analyses showed the waste to be constituted primarily of Fe with minor amounts of Ti, Ba, Al, Si, Nb, Mn, S and P. Mössbauer and XRD showed the waste to consist predominantly of magnetite and hematite. The magnetite content decreases when the temperature increases due to its direct conversion to hematite. However, at 500°C only 10 wt.% of original magnetite was converted to hematite, confirming the high stability of this magnetite, which could still be detected at 1000°C. The TG profile shows no significant weight gain on heating, indicating a high stability of the magnetite. The TPR profiles show that the hematite in the waste is sintered after treatment at 1000°C and the reduction peaks are consequently shifted to higher temperatures. This high thermal stability is attributed to a moderate isomorphous replacement of Fe by other cations present in the Nb mining waste.

The interaction between interlamellar Lu(III) cations and the layered silicate structure has been studied by means of MAS-NMR, XRD and EDX. Irreversible fixation of exchangeable Lu(III) cations upon hydrothermal treatment at 300°C of Lu-saturated montmorillonite is reported, through the formation of the crystalline phase Lu2Si2O7. It is shown that the lowest temperature previously described for this reaction, 400°C, does not indicate a thermodynamic boundary. This basic solid-state finding is relevant for some clay applications such as those related to the safety of nuclear waste repositories with engineering barriers.

The possibility of the identification by X-ray diffraction of montmorillonite and swelling chlorite, in the presence or absence of each other, is discussed. Swelling chlorite or montmorillonite, even in mixture with normal chlorite, but in the absence of mica, can be identified by heating to 500°C with immediate sealing of the tube, or by acid treatment followed by solvation with ethylene glycol. If mica is present, however, only the latter procedure will usually ensure positive identification. The same procedures will differentiate montmorillonite and swelling chlorite in mixture only when normal chlorite is absent.

This work is part of a more general study of interactions between montmorillonite and organic substances, carried out in connection with the fundamental results of MacEwan and Mackenzie. The object of this work was the study of adsorption of acetone in the vapor phase.

Samples of sodium and calcium montmorillonites were placed in pyrex tubes provided each with a ground glass stopper and a tap. Each tube was joined to a vacuum pump through a desiccating column and heated for several hours to 280°C so as to desorb the water contained in the clay and on the glass walls. At the conclusion of the evacuation, the tube was opened while hot, so as to introduce a recipient containing acetone in solution in castor oil (which had been previously degassed in vacuum). The tube was again closed, re-evacuated, cooled, then isolated from the vacuum pump and put into a thermostat (40°C).

Kaolin, or china clay, unlike most of the other clays mined in the United Kingdom, is residual in character, not sedimentary, being formed in situ in the mass of granite by decomposition of the original felspar. Granite occurs over a very considerable area of Great Britain but only in the granite bathylith of S.W. England, in Devon and Cornwall, does sufficient kaolinisation occur to justfy extensive exploitation which has been proceeding now for over 180 years. The granite intrusion welled up from great depths under a cover of sedimentary rocks of much greater age, which cover had already undergone great tectonic stresses prior to the granite's arrival.

No comprehensive study has yet been conducted to determine the chronostratigraphic distribution of palygorskite in the Tertiary sediments of Iran. Thirty sediment samples of different Tertiary epochs were taken, based on the field observations and geological maps. The clay fraction of samples was then investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results showed that sediments of the Miocene and Pliocene had large amounts of palygorskite whereas no trace of this mineral was found in the sediments from the Palaeocene, Eocene and Oligocene. Geochemical analyses revealed that sediments younger than the Oligocene had greater amounts of soluble Mg and H4SiO4 and a higher pH than those of the Palaeocene and Eocene. The stability diagram of the smectite-palygorskite system suggests that smectite is unstable and transforms to palygorskite in Neogene sediments. The SEM micrographs showed palygorskite as interwoven fibrous mats, coatings, pore-fillings and pore-bridging material in Neogene sediments. This textural evidence suggests a direct chemical precipitation of palygorskite by dissolution of silicates under the alkaline conditions. The results also suggest that geochemical conditions in the Early Tertiary era, represented by deep-sea conditions in central Iran, were not apparently favourable for palygoskite formation until the Late Oligocene.

The catalytic influence of a Spanish kaolin and bentonite on the vapour phase oxidation of 96% ethyl alcohol has been studied, using different temperatures and varying proportions of air. Consideration has also been given to the changes produced in the activity of these minerals by previously saturating with different exchange cations or subjecting them to the action of acids.

Size graded fractions of ground quartz and other silica minerals are prepared by gravity settling for particles greater than 2 microns Stokes' diameter and by centrifugal methods for smaller sizes. The size distributions of the prepared fractions are determined by counting and sizing with an optical microscope or with an electron microscope. The volume-surface diameter ΣND3/ΣND2 is used both for calculating the specific surface of the fractions and for comparing the projected area diameters used in counting, with the Stokes' diameters.

Dans les andosols, les horizons de surface et les horizons profonds sont caractérisés par des propriétés d'hydratation bien distinctes. Pour expliquer cette différence, nous avons supposé que la matière organique des horizons superficiels avait subi des dessiccations qui induisent des transformations moléculaires.

Dans cette communication, nous montrons que la dessiccation d'une suspension d'humates calciques n'est pas un phénomène simple mais qu'elle se fait en trois étapes successives qui correspondraient à différents états physico-chimiques du couple matière organique-eau (agrégats moléculaires et eau libre, associations d'agrégats moléculaires avec eau capillaire et eau d'hydratation). On met également en évidence que ces trois étapes se distinguent d'autant moins que l'indice de polymolécularité est grand.

Talc [ideal formula: Mg3Si4O10(OH)2] is one of the classical 2:1 trioctahedral phyllosilicates that has been analysed intensively with respect to its formation, thermal stability, chemical properties and structure (e.g. Wilkins & Ito, 1967; Rayner &Brown, 1973; Ward, 1975; Martin et al., 1996). Single crystal structure refinement by X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed clearly that talc is triclinic and crystallizes in the space group CI (e.g. Rayner & Brown, 1973; Perdikatsis & Burzlaff, 1981). Based on this structural model, two coordination arrangements of OH groups to Mg in the octahedral sheets can be deduced. Since XRD data give only an insight into the average structure, local information on the ligand field of the cations is limited. Currently, no analytical tool is known to determine directly the ligand field of Mg in the octahedral sites.

Se realiza un estudio detallado de las distintas fases minerales (caolínicas y silíceas) que aparecen en rocas silicificadas tanto graniticas como sedimentarias de la provincia de Avila.

Las técnicas utilizadas (A.T.D., difracción de rayos X, microscopía electrónica de trasmisión y de barrido) permiten establecer una clasificación de estos minerales segun sus propiedades térmicas, parámetros cristaloquímicos, y morfologías identificadas al scaning.

Sa dá una interpretación genética a cada uno de los tipos de caolinitas encontrados (macrocaolinitas en acordeón, microcaolinitas en gusanillo y criptocaolinitas). Los dos primeros tipos pueden ser explicados por procesos conjuntos de alteración hidrotermal y ‘weathering’ de feldespatos y micas. El tercer tipo (criptocaolinitas) es de más difícil interpretación al aso-ciarse con ópalo C-T en diques que cortan a rocas granitoideas y otras veces al presentarse como matriz de areniscas sedimentarias.

Basalts and other mafic rocks are frequently used for road construction. The aggregates have to provide intrinsic mechanical strength and skid resistance. However, smectite contents stemming from alteration processes may deteriorate these mechanical properties considerably because of the resulting contrast in hardness. Quantitative relationships between smectite content, kind of distribution, and aggregate stability are rare except for a recent study by Kaufhold et al. (2012). In this work thirteen basalt and andesite samples from German quarries were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) for their mineral contents (including clay minerals), their cation exchange capacities (CEC) and their resistance against disaggregation in dimethyl sulfoxide. Smectite contents from XRD exceeded those calculated from the CEC regardless of the kind of occurrence of smectite observed in thin sections. The hypothesis that rocks with smectites occurring mostly in patches should differ in terms of CEC and mechanical properties from those rocks where smectites are more disseminated could not be confirmed. However, the amounts of smectite accessible to cation exchange correlated with the DMSO losses. Therefore, the fast CEC determination with Cu-Trien exchange can be substituted for the time-consuming DMSO test.