The formation of an interstratified structure in dioctahedral smectite was assumed to be influenced by (1) the overall layer charge density and its distribution in the structure, (2) the solvation energy of the cation, and (3) the nature of the solvation agent. By holding factors (2) and (3) constant it was possible to calculate the average local charge densities $\overline {{\rm{QA}}}$, $\overline {{\rm{QC}}} $, and $\overline {{\rm{QE}}} $ which are necessary for formation of 10-, 14-, and 16.8-Å mixed-layer phases in potassium-treated and ethylene glycol (EG) saturated smectites. The values of $\overline {{\rm{QA}}} $, $\overline {{\rm{QC}}} $, and $\overline {{\rm{QE}}} $ were 1.99, 1.2, and 0.56 esu/unit cell, respectively. Ammonium-treated smectites saturated with EG gave corresponding mean local charge densities of 2.7, 1.6, and 0.72 esu/unit cell. Calculations were made under the limiting condition QA > QC > QE > 0.

For K-smectites saturated with EG, Qtot = 1.99pA + 1.2pC + 0.56pE, where Qtot is the total charge (esu/unit cell), and pA, pC, and pE are probability coefficients for 10-, 14-, and 16.8-Å phases in the interstratified structure. The above equation calculated with the aid of least squares and without the limiting condition yields

$${{\rm{Q}}_{{\rm{tot}}}} = {\rm{2}}{\rm{.05pA + 1}}{\rm{.29pC + 0}}{\rm{.33pE}}{\rm{.}}$$

Monoionic K- and NH4-smectites saturated with ethylene glycol form mixed-layer structures which usually consist of three kinds of layers: a 10-Å, non-expanded layer; a 14-Å, partly expanded layer; and a 16.8-Å, completely expanded layer. In some samples, the 14-Å layers formed 60–70% of all layers present. When saturated with water vapor the smectites commonly consisted of three kinds of layers (10-, 12.6-, and 15.5-Å). Generally these samples contained fewer expanded layers than those saturated with ethylene glycol. This result is attributed to the smaller dipole moment of water compared with that of ethylene glycol. The greater solvation energy of NH4+ in comparison with that of K+ causes the expansion of a part of layers which did not expand in the K forms. This result indicates that there is an inhomogeneous distribution of layer charge in the smectite structure. The prevalent type of mixed layering in the studied samples is that of random distribution of layers.