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Hydrothermal synthesis, between 75 and 150°C, of High-charge, ferric nontronites

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Clays and Clay Minerals

Abstract

High-charge nontronites were synthesized at 75, 90, 100, 110, 125, and 150°C from a silicoferrous starting gel with Si2FeNa2O6.nH2O composition. This gel was oxidized in contact with air and then hydrothermally treated, for a period of 4 weeks, under equilibrium water pressure. The synthesized nontronites were similar to each other, regardless of the synthesis temperature. Their structural formula, obtained from chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Mössbauer, and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopies is: \(\left( {{\rm{S}}{{\rm{i}}_{3.25}}{\rm{Fe}}_{0.75}^{3 + }} \right){\rm{Fe}}_2^{3 + }{{\rm{O}}_{10}}{\left( {{\rm{OH}}} \right)_2}{\rm{N}}{{\rm{a}}_{0.75}}\). A strictly ferric end-member of the nontronite series was therefore synthesized for the first time. The uncommon chemistry of the synthesized nontronites, notably the high level of Fe-for-Si substitution, induced particular XRD, FTIR, and differential thermal analysis-thermogravimetric analysis data. The ethylene glycol expandability of the synthetic nontronites was linked to their crystallinity and depended on the nature of the interlayer cation, moving from smectite to vermiculite-like behavior. As the synthesis temperature increased, the crystallinity of the synthesized clays increased. The nontronite obtained at 150°C had the ‘best crystallinity’, which cannot be improved by increasing synthesis time or temperature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 6532 HydrASA CNRS/INSU, Université de Poitiers, 40 Av. Recteur Pineau, F86022, Poitiers cedex, France

    Alain Decarreau, Sabine Petit & Philippe Vieillard

  2. ERT 1074 CNRS Géomatériaux, LMTG-OMP-UPS-IRD-CNRS, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, F31400, Toulouse, France

    François Martin

  3. USM 201 - UMR.CNRS 7160, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, F75005, Paris, France

    François Farges

  4. UMR 6532 HydrASA CNRS/INSU, Université de Limoges, 123 Av. A. Thomas, F87060, Limoges cedex, France

    Emmanuel Joussein

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  1. Alain Decarreau
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Correspondence to Alain Decarreau.

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Decarreau, A., Petit, S., Martin, F. et al. Hydrothermal synthesis, between 75 and 150°C, of High-charge, ferric nontronites. Clays Clay Miner. 56, 322–337 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2008.0560303

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2008.0560303

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