Clay properties surface area

The type of clay present in a soil influences triazine sorption (Brown and White, 1969). Furthermore, variations in surface properties among different samples of the same clay type greatly influence sorption. For instance, sorption of atrazine on 13 clay samples, of which smectite was the dominant mineral, ranged from 0% to 100% of added atrazine (Figure 21.7), and was inversely correlated to the surface charge density of the smectites (Laird et al., 1992). Such data illustrate the complexity of sorption processes and the reason why simple predictive models relying on % OC, % clay, or surface area normalizations may fail to predict accurately the sorption of triazine by a particular soil. 

An adsorptive is distributed between the adsorbed phase on a soil and the surrounding aqueous phase depending on soil adsorbent properties such as pH, organic matter content, amount and type of clay minerals, surface area and porosity, and on the other hand, on properties of the adsorbate such as ionization constant, solubility, polarity, size, shape and configuration [ 13 ]. Usually, the attachment of uncharged organics correlates well with the organic matter content of the soil adsorbent, whereas the influence of the... 

Dimensions. Most coUoids have aU three dimensions within the size range - 100 nm to 5 nm. If only two dimensions (fibriUar geometry) or one dimension (laminar geometry) exist in this range, unique properties of the high surface area portion of the material may stiU be observed and even dominate the overaU character of a system (21). The non-Newtonian rheological behavior of fibriUar and laminar clay suspensions, the reactivity of catalysts, and the critical magnetic properties of multifilamentary superconductors are examples of the numerous systems that are ultimately controUed by such coUoidal materials. 

Clay minerals or phyllosilicates are lamellar natural and synthetic materials with high surface area, cation exchange and swelling properties, exfoliation ability, variable surface charge density and hydrophobic/hydrophilic character [85], They are good host structures for intercalation or adsorption of organic molecules and macromolecules, particularly proteins. On the basis of the natural adsorption of proteins by clay minerals and various clay complexes that occurs in soils, many authors have investigated the use of clay and clay-derived materials as matrices for the immobilization of enzymes, either for environmental chemistry purpose or in the chemical and material industries. 

The view that the clay surface perturbs water molecules at distances well in excess of 10 A has been largely based on measurements of thermodynamic properties of the adsorbed water as a function of the water content of the clay-water mixture. There is an extensive literature on this subject which has been summarized by Low (6.). The properties examined are, among others, the apparent specific heat capacity, the partial specific volume, and the apparent specific expansibility (6.). These measurements were made on samples prepared by mixing predetermined amounts of water and smectite to achieve the desired number of adsorbed water layers. The number of water layers adsorbed on the clay is derived from the amount of water added to the clay and the surface area of the clay. 

An understanding of much of aqueous geochemistry requires an accurate description of the water-mineral interface. Water molecules in contact with> or close to, the silicate surface are in a different environment than molecules in bulk water, and it is generally agreed that these adsorbed water molecules have different properties than bulk water. Because this interfacial contact is so important, the adsorbed water has been extensively studied. Specifically, two major questions have been examined 1) how do the properties of surface adsorbed water differ from bulk water, and 2) to what distance is water perturbed by the silicate surface These are difficult questions to answer because the interfacial region normally is a very small portion of the water-mineral system. To increase the proportion of surface to bulk, the expanding clay minerals, with their large specific surface areas, have proved to be useful experimental materials. 

The sorption behavior of 11 PAH compounds (a training set, Table 11) on various solid phases (e.g., three soils and two sediments) with different properties to relevant sorption (e.g., organic carbon content, clay content, pH, cation exchange capacity CEC Table 12), was determined by batch equilibrium studies [1]. Batch equilibrium tests were designed to determine rates of equilibrium sorption under conditions of high mixing and high surface areas of the solid particles (see Chap. 3). 

For moderate reduction the changes are completely reversible but they are progressively less so with more thorough reduction (Stucki et al 1984 Komadel et al 1995 Gates et al 1996). There are concomitant changes in the clay s physical and chemical properties, including its surface area, swelling behaviour, and capacity to sorb cations. 

As a function of their structural properties, clays interact differently with organic and inorganic contaminants. Two major groups of clay minerals are selected for discussion here (a) kaolinite, with a 1 1 layered structured aluminosilicate and a surface area ranging from 6 to 39 m g" (Schofield and Samson 1954) and (b) smectites with a 2 1 silicate layer and a total surface area of about 800m g" (Borchardt 1989). 

Smectites are clay minerals with an expanding nature, a negative charge, and a large total surface area. These properties are of major importance in controlling the fate of chemicals in the subsurface, by affecting their retention, transport, and persistence. 

Aging of hydroxyalumlnum polycation solutions used to prepare pillared clays affects the properties. Including surface area and cracking activity, of these pillared clays. The effects were correlated with the state of hydrolysis of the aged solutions. Dilution of the pillaring reagent, Chlorhydrol, causes depolymerlzatlon of polycations present In this reagent and the formation of new polycations which react to form the pillared clay. 

Borggaard, O.K. (1983) Effect of surface area and mineralogy of iron oxides on their surface charge and anion-adsorption properties. Clays Clay Min. 31 230-232 Borggaard, O.K. (1983 a) The influence of iron oxides on phosphate adsorption by soil. J. 

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