Relationship between Interfacial Properties and Geological Origin of Bentonite Clay

1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERFACIAL PROPERTIES AND GEOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF BENTONITE CLAY 

Bentonite rocks have many uses in the chemical and oil industries and also in agriculture and environmental protection. The usefulness of bentonite for each of these applications is based on its interfacial properties. These properties are determined by geological origin, chemical and mineral composition (especially montmorillonite content), and particle size distribution, and they include the specific surface area (internal and external), cation-exchange capacity (CEC), acid-base properties of the edge sites, viscosity, swelling, water permeability, adsorption of different substances, and migration rate of soluble substances in bentonite clay. 

Bentonitic tuff represented by samples from B-II.b. layer 

Sedimentary bentonite with strong tuffogenic character (enclosing numerous small pumice fragments) represented by B-II.a. layer 

FIGURE 3.1 Sarmatian sediment series with bentonite sites in the Ko Valley around Sajobabony (Hungary) (Piispoki et al. 2003a,b). (Reprinted from Nagy and Konya 2005, with permission from Elsevier.) 

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