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On the mechanism of exfoliation of ‘Vermiculite’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

S. Hillier ,
E. M. M. Marwa  and
C. M. Rice
S. Hillier*
Affiliation:
The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), P.O. Box 7014, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
E. M. M. Marwa
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK Sokoine University of Agriculture, Department of Soil Science, P. O. Box 3008, Morogoro, Tanzania
C. M. Rice
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK
*
*E-mail: stephen.hillier@hutton.ac.uk
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Abstract

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Six samples of ‘Vermiculite’ have been studied to investigate the mechanism of its well known but poorly understood property to exfoliate. The samples were analysed quantitatively by XRD to determine their precise mineralogical composition. Electron microprobe methods, including elemental mapping of native potassium and of caesium (introduced by cation exchange) were used to examine variation in the chemical composition of the particles. Most of the samples examined show heterogeneous mineralogical compositions which occur as distinct zones within the volume of individual particles, presenting a mosaic texture. Exfoliation is related to this mosaic distribution of the different mineral phases within the particles. Lateral phase boundaries between vermiculite and mica layers, or vermiculite and chlorite layers are postulated to prevent or impede the escape of gas from a particle, resulting in exfoliation when the pressure exceeds the interlayer bonding forces that hold the layers together. This mechanism provides a common explanation for the exfoliation of ‘Vermiculite’ by thermal methods or by treatment with H2O2. Paradoxically, one sample which consists of pure vermiculite, in the mineralogical sense of the term, demonstrates that pure vermiculite does not and should not exhibit the property of exfoliation. Our explanation of the mechanism of exfoliation explains the commonly observed particle size dependence of exfoliation and the tendency for obviously poly-phase ‘Vermiculite’ samples to show the largest coefficients of expansion.

Keywords

vermiculitehydrobiotitephlogopiteexfoliationhydrogen peroxide
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 48 , Issue 4 , September 2013 , pp. 563 - 582
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2013 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2013

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