Effect of Ca-Montmorilionite Expansion on X-ray Diffraction lntensities

Authors

Donald Senich, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
T. Demirel, Iowa State UniversityFollow
R. L. Handy, Iowa State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Research

Abstract

The most abundant clay mineral group in Iowa soils is montmorillonite, most commonly calcium-saturated (Hanway et al. 1960). The calcium montmorillonite-water system was therefore selected for detailed X-ray study. Montmorillonite is unusual among minerals in that it has an expansible lattice in the c direction. That is, upon wetting with water, the individual silicate layers separate to allow entry of water, and the mineral expands. Characteristics of expansion are readily studied by means of X-ray diffraction: the X-ray diffraction angle gives the average layer-to-layer "d₀₀₁" spacing for any given moisture condition; the sharpness of the diffraction peak is a measure of uniformity of the d₀₀₁ spacing; and the intensity of the peak relates to uniformity of the d₀₀₁ spacing and in addition to the electron density distribution within the repeating elements. The latter is embodied in the "structure factor". The variation of d₀₀₁ structure factor caused by montmorillonite expansion is the subject of this paper.

Publication Date

1966

Journal Title

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

73

Issue

1

First Page

212

Last Page

218

Copyright

©1966 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Senich, Donald; Demirel, T.; and Handy, R. L. (1966) "Effect of Ca-Montmorilionite Expansion on X-ray Diffraction lntensities," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 73(1), 212-218.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol73/iss1/33