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XRD, IR and ESR study of experimental alteration of Al-nontronite into mixed-layer kaolinite/smectite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

B. Delvaux
Affiliation:
Unité CIFA, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud, 1, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
M. M. Mestdagh
Affiliation:
Unité CIFA, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud, 1, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
L. Vielvoye
Affiliation:
Section Physico-chimie, Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Place Croix du Sud, 1, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
A. J. Herbillon
Affiliation:
Centre de Pédologie Biologique, UP 6831 du CNRS associée à l'Université de Nancy I, BP 5, 54501 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex, France

Abstract

The formation of kaolinite from Al hydroxy interlayered Garfield nontronite has been carried out at 225°C in hydrothermal conditions. The kaolinitization process, which proceeds through mixed-layer kaolinite/smectite intermediates, was followed by XRD, IR and ESR spectroscopy, chemical analysis and charge properties. The smectite content of the clay products decreases regularly with the duration of the hydrothermal treatment. The CEC and the structural Fe content of the deferrated products show a similar trend. IR features specific to nontronite disappear and are barely detectable as the smectite content of the mixed-layer clay falls below 30%. In contrast, the ESR spectrum of nontronite is characterized by a broad g2 signal that remains even after prolonged hydrothermal treatment. The calibration of the g2 ESR signal, due to Fe-smectite, shows that the synthetic kaolinites have low Fe contents (∼ 1% Fe2O3) indicating that the kaolinitization process involves destruction of the 2:1 layers and the subsequent neoformation of kaolinite and Fe oxides. As illustrated by the study of deferrated soil clay samples, representing a weathering sequence Fe-smectite → kaolinite + Fe oxides, ESR spectroscopy proved to be a powerful Fe probe for detecting Fe-rich smectite in kaolinite/Fe-smectite mixed-layer clays.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1989

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