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Brønsted Acidification Observed during Hydrothermal Treatment of a Calcium Montmorillonite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

Robert B. Heimann*
Affiliation:
Department of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G2G6
*
1Present address: Institute for Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, D-09596 Freiberg, Germany
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Abstract

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An aluminous Ca-montmorillonite from southern Manitoba, Canada, has been shown to generate very low pH values in clay/groundwater slurries over a range of ionic strength of the groundwater (fresh and saline) and temperatures from 25°–90°C. Dialysis experiments as well as results of X-ray diffraction and FTIR vibration spectroscopy point to an acidification mechanism that involves hydrolysis of exchangeable Al3+ ions, thus releasing protons, and the subsequent intercalation of gibbsite-like hydroxy-Al complexes into the smectite lattice forming a non-expandable “Al”-montmorillonite.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1993, The Clay Minerals Society

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