Well developed mullite whiskers were obtained by heating compacts of kaolin and 2 wt.% sodium pyrophosphate powder at 1350ºC for 10 h, with or without a small addition of aluminium sulphate. Without aluminium sulphate, mullite whiskers were obtained with an aspect ratio of >8 and reasonably uniform diameter (~0.05–0.3 μm). When aluminium sulphate additions were employed a mass of relatively well developed and interlocked whisker-shaped crystals were produced, with an aspect ratio of >10 (~0.05–0.3 μm in diameter). Larger whiskers were also observed, with aspect ratio of >25 (~0.2–0.5 μm in diameter).

An important attribute for soil use is clay content, because it affects the water-holding capacity and hydraulic properties of a soil. Soil surveys are time-consuming, labour-intensive and costly, while geophysical methods, such as Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), offer a non-invasive and non-destructive approach to mapping soil features. The objective of this paper is to assess the spatial relationship between clay content and geophysical data. The EMI and GPR data and soil cores were collected and analysed in a field of about 3 ha size in Rutigliano, Bari, in SE Italy. The EMI data and clay contents were interpolated using ordinary cokriging. The GPR data were pre-processed and the envelope of the filtered GPR data was used to produce 3Dmaps of the kriged estimates. The correlation with clay content was large and positive for EMI, whereas it was negative for the GPR measurement. In this work, a combination of geostatistical and statistical analysis has shown a significant correlation between the EMI and GPR observations. Estimation of the mathematical function relating these two groups of variables requires a multivariate approach of non-stationary geostatistics.

The present paper shows the importance of Inverse Gas Chromatography (IGC) for the determination of the surface properties of bentonites. These properties are dispersive surface energy, acid-base properties, surface heterogeneity, sorption isotherms, BET surface areas and heat of sorption, using different probe molecules. IGC can contribute to the interpretation, prediction and optimization of the studied materials' properties. The paper focuses on two distinctive bentonite samples from Porto Santo Island, Madeira archipelago. In view of their potential value, achieved through their incorporation in products for dermopharmacy and dermocosmetics, particle size and particle surface properties are of fundamental importance.

We have determined the adsorption of RNA components (adenine, cytosine, uracil, ribose and phosphate) by Mg2+-exchanged montmorillonite. The isotherms for adenine, cytosine and uracil were of the C-type, the amount adsorbed increasing linearly with the equilibrium solute concentration. All three nucleic acid bases were apparently adsorbed by coordination to Mg2+ ions through a water bridge. Very little ribose was adsorbed by Mg-exchanged montmorillonite. The isotherm for phosphate was of the L-type. The plateau value of about 0.012 mmol g–1 indicated that phosphate adsorbed on the edge surface of montmorillonite. At comparable solute concentrations, adsorption decreased in the order adenine > cytosine > uracil. This observation reflects differences in basicity, size, and aqueous solubility among the three compounds.

Corrensite and chlorite-rich chlorite-smectite (Chl-S) mixed-layers occurring in the Macigno Formation of northwestern Tuscany were investigated by XRPD/SEM techniques. The samples from the Macigno outcrops were affected by metamorphism corresponding to the high-diagenesis/low-anchizone transition boundary. The basal spacing of corrensite measured from 00l reflections on EG–Mg2+-saturated samples ranges from 30.97 to 31.18 Å with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 0.46–0.77%, consistent with the rational pattern of a 1:1 Chl-S periodic stacking sequence. X-ray patterns of heated K+-saturated specimens reveal the presence of two types of corrensite, probably with different interlayer charges on their respective smectite-like layers. The chlorite-rich Chl-S mixed layers coexisting with corrensite consist of R2 chlorite (0.70–0.75)/S and chlorite (0.90)/S with long-range ordering R ⩾ 1. SEM observations show that corrensite and chlorite-rich Chl-S mixed-layers are closely mixed on a sub-micron scale. Some grains of corrensite and chlorite-rich Chl-S mixed-layers include zones (2–10 μm) of chlorite composition, as shown by microprobe analyses.

Mineralogical and chemical compositions of residual and sedimentary clays (bulk and <2 μm fraction) from the Nelas region (schist, aplite-pegmatites, granites and Tertiary sediments from both Mondego River margins), Portugal, were studied, aiming to establish indicators for raw materials in ancient ceramic provenance studies. The mineralogy of bulk material does not provide a clear distinction between samples. Among clay minerals, kaolinite dominates, except in the aplite-pegmatites where illite prevails. Smectite was only found in sediments of the left river bank.

A more successful result was the geochemical differentiation of clay types. The weathered schist presents greater enrichment in Cr, whereas the clay fraction of aplite-pegmatites shows enrichment in all the chemical elements studied. The sediments and weathered granites are not easy to differentiate; the best geochemical indicators are U (lower contents in clay-size fraction of sediments) and REE patterns in both bulk and clay-size fraction.

A general alteration pattern of two transitional clay mineral assemblages was determined by petrography and X-ray diffractometry studies at the Tandilia Late Proterozoic unconformity zone, around the Barker locality: (1) K-white mica + chlorite + calcite ± anatase-rutile ± secondary quartz (farther from the unconformity) and (2) pyrophyllite + K-white mica + Ti-rich hematite ± aluminium phosphate-sulphate minerals ± tourmaline ± anatase-rutile (closer to the unconformity). The local occurrence of Na in K-white micas and K-Na in pyrophyllite is described for the first time. Possible interlayering with intermediate K-Na mica and paragonite is indicated by detailed X-ray diffraction analyses. A negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* = 0.24), strongly positive Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* =11.7) and positive Ce anomaly characterized rapid changes from an unaltered basement to the most altered basement and sedimentary rocks at the unconformity. Aluminium phosphate-sulphate minerals dominate patterns of LREE. A model of hydrothermal alteration comparable to that of unconformity-related uranium deposits is presented.

A clay from the Mediterranean area classified as natural bleaching earth was comprehensively characterized and the quantitative phase content was determined. Morphology and surface characteristics were determined by environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and nitrogen adsorption. The BET surface area was >200 m2 g–1 and the average mesopore diameter was >10 nm. Thus the clay is suitable for bioseparation of larger proteins. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), cation exchange capacity (CEC), layer charge measurement and simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) were used for mineralogical characterization. Determination of the phase content by Rietveld analysis was possible only after Sr2+ saturation, while Rietveld analysis of XRD patterns from Na+-saturated clay resulted in a strong overestimation of the amorphous content and masking of the sepiolite. The clay consists of sepiolite, dioctahedral smectite with high layer charge and low stack height, X-ray amorphous matter (probably mainly SiO2) and accessory feldspars.

The risk of overfitting pair distribution function (PDF) data for highly defective material (Farrow et al., 2007) is illuminated with the example of the nanocrystalline hydrous ferric oxyhydroxide, ferrihydrite. Two structural models have been published by Michel et al. (2007, 2010) using this method, both of which contradict the standard ‘ferrihydrits’ model established by X-ray diffraction (Drits et al., 1993), and confirmed by single-crystal electron nanodiffraction (Janney et al., 2001) and neutron diffraction (Jansen et al., 2002). Although PDF data are reproduced equally well with the two regression models, neither model is realistic: the first (fhyd6) violates Pauling's 2nd rule, and the second (ferrifh), Pauling's 3rd rule.

This paper presents the results of acidic leaching of kaolinite from the flotation waste of the RTB Bor copper mine, Serbia. The kaolinitic concentrate from the flotation waste contains 32% Al2O3. Kinetic investigations were conducted on the leaching of kaolinite roasted at 750°C for 60 min under air using H2SO4, HNO3 and HCl. Activation energies for the process were 74, 63 and 63.2 kJ mol–1 for sulphuric, nitric and hydrochloric acids, respectively. The kinetic function D3: [1 – (1 – α)1/3]2 = kt was chosen to describe the fractional conversion dependence on time and temperature. This enabled effective management of the leaching process to be carried out.

The Linkuo terrace, situated to the west of the Taipei Basin in NW Taiwan, has thick red soils that have been little studied. This paper aims to interpret the development of these soils through chemical and micromorphological investigations, and relate the soils to their palaeo-environments. The soil samples were air dried, crushed and passed through a 2 mm sieve, and then subjected to conventional soil chemical and physical analyses, together with clay mineralogical and morphological characterization. Pedons I and II were clay with low base saturation (BS), cation-exchange capacity (CEC), and exchangeable cations. The pH of pedons I and II ranged from 3.80 to 5.26. The low magnetic susceptibility of these soils indicates that no magnetite (Fe3O4) or maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) are present. X-ray diffraction patterns of the magnetic clay fraction showed lepidocrocite, goethite and hematite, the amounts of which may relate to water fluctuation in the soil environments. Illite, kaolinite and quartz are major clay minerals in the red soil clay fractions. The micromorphology of all horizons showed a great accumulation of Fe-oxides. The upper horizon showed darkened isotropic Fe-oxide materials, and lower horizon showed a black to reddish dense plasma with soil matrix. The groundmass of the oxic horizon is generally characterized by a homogeneous distribution of the different coarse and fine constituents. The thick (4 m depth) and homogeneous red soils of the Linkuo terrace were developed from fine sediments after the gradual subsidence of the Taipei Basin. Alarge amount of gravel was flushed from the Xindian River before the Taipei Basin subsided. The Linkuo red soils can be classified as mesic, Typic Kandiudox. From the chemical compositions of clay fractions and the red soil features, these red soils can be considered as lateritic red earths or red earths that do not reach the criteria for laterite.

Sodium montmorillonite (MMT) was organically modified with hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium ions and subsequently treated with dichlorosilanes and water, aimed at in situ silane condensation polymerization and modification of clay platelets by polysiloxane coatings. Dimethyldichlorosilane, methylphenyldichlorosilane, and diphenyldichlorosilane were used to produce three siloxane-modified organoclays. The structure and morphology of the clay materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric studies (TG) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD results showed that the silanes were effectively polymerized in the clay galleries, forming a nanocomposite of intercalated particles. A fraction of the siloxane formed is bonded to the clay surface by covalent siloxane bonds. Strong structural differences in both morphology and thermal stability of the materials may occur when changing methyl or phenyl groups in the siloxane structure. The formation mechanism of these intercalated nanocomposite particles is considered. Finally, these modified clays were incorporated in an olefin polymer and morphological analyses using transmission electron microscope (TEM) images were carried out.

The relationship between three parameters, the Tmax given by Rock-Eval pyrolysis, the illite content in illite-smectite mixed layers (I-S) and the Ku¨bler Index (KI) has been investigated in the Cretaceous–Neogene, sedimentary syn-orogenic successions in the Northern Apennines (Italy). A strong relationship was found between maturity stages of kerogen, illite content in I-S and KI. The oil formation zone for continental organic matter (Type III), delimited by Tmax between 434 and 465ºC, corresponded to rocks with short-range ordering R1, I-S with illite content between 60 and 85% and KI values in the range 0.85–0.65 (ºΔ2θ). Over-mature rocks were characterized by Tmax >465ºC, a long-range ordered I-S with an illite content >85% and KI in the range 0.65–0.45 (ºΔ2θ). The relationship permits use of both mineralogical parameters and Tmax to estimate palaeotemperatures in sedimentary successions and it can be exploited in hydrocarbon research to evaluate the petroleum potential.

The use of pelitic geological materials for the treatment of muscle-bone-skin pathologies, by application of a cataplasm made of clay and mineral water mixture, is currently receiving attention and interest from the general public and scientific community. In Portugal there are several natural occurrences of clays/muds which are used for pelotherapy and/or geotherapy. These are carried out either indoors (thalassotherapy and thermal centres) or outdoors, in natural sites generally located near the seaside. The aim of this study is to assess the mineralogical and physicochemical properties of Portuguese raw materials for therapeutic purposes. These materials were collected from different Portuguese Mesozoic-Cenozoic geological formations located in the neighbourhood of thermal centres or at beaches known from their empirical applications. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) were used to assess the mineralogical composition of these clays. Physicochemical properties, such as specific surface area, cation exchange capacity, plasticity/abrasiveness indices and heat diffusiveness were also determined. Having distinct geological ages and genesis, the materials examined are mainly illitic. Less abundant kaolinite and smectite are also present. With respect to their physicochemical properties, all samples have good thermal properties which make them potentially suitable for therapeutic or aesthetic purposes.

A set of Silurian black shales from Sierra de Albarracín (NE Spain) corresponding to two different sections was studied to determine the relative influence of diagenesis, igneous activity, and regional tectonics on the clay-mineral genesis. The coexistence of pyrophyllite, I-S interstratifications (R1), ammonium-rich illite, potassium illite, kaolin, and chlorite is not the result of prograde evolution during diagenesis – very low-grade metamorphism. Three different stages may be inferred: (1) sedimentation of black shales (Aeronian, Lower Silurian, to basal Ludfordian, Upper Silurian) and the subsequent diagenetic process producing the coexistence of quartz, illite, kaolinite, organic matter, etc.; (2) intrusion of andesitic sills producing hydrothermal alteration and crystallization of pyrophyllite, ammonium-rich illites, smectite, I-S R1 phases and jarosite; and (3) and folding of shales and sills and development of penetrative schistosity during the late Variscan leading to illite and paragonite recrystallization reaching the anchizone grade.

Plate-like α-Al2O3 particles are used to reinforce metal or ceramics to improve their mechanical properties. Here, we have demonstrated the production of alumina platelets using kaolin as a raw material in a sodium sulphate flux. When kaolin was sintered using Na2SO4 flux, the main phase formed in samples sintered at 900ºC was mullite, but alumina was produced at 1000ºC. Sintering at 1200ºC led to alumina and sodium aluminosilicate, with little of the mullite phase present. Plate-like α-Al2O3 particles were observed in samples sintered at 1200ºC, with diameters ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 µm and thicknesses from 0.05 to 0.1 µm. This production method is economically feasible because the raw materials have a low cost and the sintering temperature is low.

Ammonium illite and ammonium illite-smectite mixed layers, together with potassium illite, smectite and minute amounts of kaolinite were identified in hydrothermally altered andesite rocks from the Harghita Bãi area of the Eastern Carpathians, Romania. K-Ar dating and oxygen isotope tracing, as well as rare-earth elemental analyses were made to provide new information on the timing and crystal-chemical processes characterizing the crystallization and further evolution of these illite-type mineral phases.

The combined results suggest the occurrence of hydrothermal activity in two distinct episodes with nucleation of two generations of illite-type particles of different chemistry and morphology. About 9.5 Ma ago, potassium illite crystallized in alteration halos of the porphyry Cu system, probably at a temperature of ~270ºC from fluids having a δ18O of ~2.9% (V-SMOW). Associated smectite seems to have precipitated slightly later in external alteration halos at a similar temperature, but from fluids depleted in alkalis and with a different δ18O. Alternately, ammonium-rich illite-smectite mixed layers formed very recently, less than ~1 million years ago at a temperature of ~90ºC from fluids of probable meteoric origin that altered the previously crystallized potassium illite, resulting in the crystallization of a new generation of ammonium illite-smectite mixed layers. Evidence of this dissolution-precipitation process is provided by a significant increase in the δ18O of the mixed-layer structures and by a significant change in their REE contents and distribution patterns. Occurrence of potassium in the ammonium-rich mixed layers probably relates to the progressive alteration of the first-generation potassium illite and a discrete concomitant take up of released K by the new NH4-rich interlayers of the ammonium mixed layered sequence.

Selected samples of large cavity filling and vein-type fibrous zeolites from Eocene volcanic rocks in the Kahrizak region, northern Iran, have been studied for their mineralogical and chemical characteristics. X-ray powder diffraction and electron microprobe analyses confirmed the presence of natrolite, mesolite and scolecite with compositions of [Na14.922Ca0.202K0.015Ba0.002] [Al15.697Si24.267O80]·nH2O, [Ca15.714Na14.224][Al46.431Si73.398O240]·nH2O and [Ca7.804Na0.142K0.024 Ba0.012Mg0.006][Al15.320Si24.437O80]·nH2O, respectively. In addition, examination of textural relationships in thin sections and back-scattered electron images reveals a paragenetic order in which the Ca-rich zeolites crystallized first. It is most probable that the fibrous zeolites of Kahrizak were formed during two pulses of hydrothermal activity in the area. Scolecite and mesolite were precipitated from Ca-rich solution, whereas the second stage Na-rich, low-temperature fluid crystallized natrolite and reacted with Ca-species.