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The structure of vermiculite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

A. McL. Mathieson
Affiliation:
Division of Industrial Chemistry, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Melbourne, Australia
G. F. Walker
Affiliation:
Division of Industrial Chemistry, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Melbourne, Australia
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Extract

The arrangement of water molecules in the vicinity of clay mineral surfaces has been the subject of much speculation. Vermiculite offers a promising line of approach to this problem since, in addition to its occurrence in soil-clays, it is available as relatively large flakes which can be studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. This note reports an as yet incomplete structure analysis of vermiculite. A two-dimensional Fourier synthesis has been carried out and a determination of atomic parameters in the third dimension is in progress. The results obtained so far would appear to justify a preliminary statement.

The (h0l) set of reflexions for a natural Mg-saturated vermiculiet were recorded on two multiple-film packs exposed to MoKα radiation in a Weissenberg camera for 100 hours and 5 hours respectively. Intensities were estimated visually by comparison with a set of standards obtained from the (00·10) reflexion.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1952

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References

Hendricks, S. B. and Jefferson, M. E., 1938. Amer. Min., 23, 851.Google Scholar
Pauling, L., 1930. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 16, 123129.Google Scholar
Walker, G. F., 1951. “The Structural X-ray Identification of Clay Minerals,” Chap. VII, ed. by Brindley, G. W., London.Google Scholar