The interaction of montmorillonite with sotalol hydrochloride (4-(1-hydroxy-N-isopropylaminoethyl) methane sulfanilide) was studied by means of adsorption isotherms, XRD and IR spectroscopy. The amount of sotalol adsorbed depended on pH, the maximum amount adsorbed (0·56 mEq g−1) being considerably less than the exchange capacity of the mineral (0·80 mEq g−1). XRD and IR data revealed that the sotalol is adsorbed into the interlayer space, forming a monolayer complex with a d001 spacing of 17·7 Å, and that the mechanisms involved are cation exchange and ion-dipole interactions. Experiments on the in vitro desorption of the drug from the sotalol-montmorillonite complex indicated that desorption is affected by pH, by the salt concentration of the electrolyte, and by the elimination rate of the desorbed organic cations.

Mineralogical examination of a strongly chloritized amphibole-schist indicated that it had been subjected to two alteration episodes of different origin. Structural and petrographic evidence showed that the alteration processes operated per descensum from the bedrock surface down to shallow depth, thus eliminating any hydrothermal episode due to fluid ascension through deep fractures. The rock was first altered into interstratified chlorite-vermiculite minerals with potassic interlayers. These potassic clay minerals occur in an originally K-deficient rock and seem to have been generated by a marine alteration episode; this episode appears to be contemporaneous with the Cenomanian transgression which covered the amphibole-schist with sandy-clayey deposits. The potassic clay minerals were replaced during a later meteoric alteration episode by kaolinites, iron oxides, and smectites with Mg, Ca interlayer cations.

Three clay samples (a kaolinite, a halloysite and an inseparable mixture of kaolinite-palygorskite-illite-montmorillonite) were, after a mild pretreatment, successfully tested as catalysts in the polymerization of styrene. The catalytic activity of the clay (measured by the conversion rate), the MW and the colour of the polystyrene obtained depended not only on the chemical composition and the structure of the clay catalyst but also on its concentration in the medium. The polystyrenes obtained on the clay catalyst were composed of two groups of macromolecules, one with low MW and the other with high MW.

Les nontronites ne présentent pas les propriétés caractéristiques des phyllosilicates 2:1 magnésiens ou alumineux à substitutions tétraédriques: domaines d'hydratation homogène, isotherme de désorption d'eau avec paliers, organisation structurale ordonnée ou semi-ordonnée. Or les analyses structurales montrent que ce sont des beidellites ferriffères et l'étude de l'effet Hofmann–Klemen confirme le taux très faible de lacunes et de substitutions octaédriques. Diverses hypothèses justifiant ces propriétés sont présentées et discutées.

Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and IR spectroscopy were used to characterize the number and strength of acid sites in Al3+-, Cr3+- and Fe3+-exchanged montmorillonite. The bases pyridine and n-butylamine occupied three different sites in the interlamellar space: (i) physisorbed base, (ii) base bound to Lewis acid sites, and (iii) protonated base. TPD profiles for pyridine were characterized by maxima at 40°, 150° and 340°C, whilst those for n-butylamine occurred at 30°, 200° and 410°C. The Al3+- and Cr3+-exchanged forms were stable up to pretreatment temperatures of 300°C, but the Fe3+-form required > 3 day exposure to base vapour to re-establish the high-temperature desorption peak. Variable-temperature IR studies showed that the number of Brönsted-bound pyridine molecules increased with increased outgassing temperature.

Transmission electron microscopy of ultramicrotomed thin-sections of Pleistocene and Eocene glass shards revealed the neoformation of (i) illite and (ii) halloysite at the glass periphery. According to previous experimental studies, halloysite neoformation in marine environments can occur on glass shards deposited in Si-rich sediments; an excess of Ca tends to inhibit the reaction.

The dehydration of an interstratified talc-trioctahedral smectite mineral (aliettite) from Monte Chiaro, Taro Valley, Italy, saturated by Na, K, Rb, Cs, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba and NH4 cations, was studied by X-ray powder diffraction and thermal analysis, under different conditions of temperature and relative humidity. Both in the natural and exchanged states the mineral exhibited several orders of basal reflections and, to varying relative humidity (p/po) and temperature (T) conditions, behaved like a smectite except that: (i) the c-dimension was not very sensitive to relative humidity increase; (ii) the closest packing was for T > 400°C, the collapsed state being reached gradually as T increased and an inverse trend was apparent between 20° and 300°C; (iii) the endothermic reactions at T = 400°C and T = 600°C appeared to be affected by the exchange treatment. The experimental data are consistent with a structural model in which it is possible to distinguish layers containing a patchwork of talc and smectite domains: the patchworks are superposed to make a regular alternation of the two domains.

Surface excess isotherms were determined for the adsorption of 1,4-dioxan (DIOX), tetrahydropyran (THP) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) from binary solution with methanol (MeOH) on Al3+- and Cr3+-exchanged, montmorillonite containing different amounts of pre-adsorbed water. The isotherm type is dominated by the binary mixture whereas the amplitude, which follows the sequence DIOX > THP > THF, is further influenced by the exchange cation, Al3+ > Cr3+, and the water content of the clay. The sorption of DIOX and THP from MeOH exhibit a type IV isotherm in the Schay-Nagy classification on both cation-exchanged forms, whilst that of THF from MeOH is of type I and THF is the preferred adsorbate. The azeotropic point for the type IV isotherms is close to a 1:1 mole ratio for the samples dried at 120°C but when the samples are rehydrated at 12% r.h. following thermal pretreatment at 120°C the azeotropic point shifts in favour of the cyclic ethers DIOX and THP, making them the preferred component over a substantial portion of the composition range.

Silico-ferric coprecipitates, with chemical formula , were aged in suspension at 75°, 100° and 150°C and the structural evolution of solids with time studied by XRD, TEM, and IR, Mössbauer and EXAFS spectroscopy. The initial Si-Fe coprecipitate was found to be amorphous but showed local order similar to that of a smectite layer. At 75°C only a weak structural evolution of the silico-ferric product towards a smectite-like structure was observed. Experiments performed at 100° and 150°C led to synthesis of a ferric smectite with structural formula . During syntheses a highly soluble silico-ferric complex appeared; the Si/Fe atomic ratio of this complex was 3, and the apparent concentration of Fe3+ in solution reached 27 mm/l. These syntheses prove that the crystallization of a dioctahedral smectite, containing only Fe3+ atoms in the octahedral sheet, is possible under strictly oxidizing conditions. However, crystal growth of a ferric smectite under these conditions is slow and only syntheses carried out at sufficiently high temperatures give convincing results.

Leaching of two palygorskites with different octahedral aluminium contents has been carried out in HCl at 20°–70°C. The acid concentration was varied in the range 0·05–6 mol. 1−1, using 4–500 g.g−1 liquid to solid ratios. Acid leaching of up to 60% of the octahedral cations did not provoke structural changes or amorphization of the samples. On the bases of the selectivity of extraction of Mg2+, Fe3+ and Al3+, it appeared that most of the octahedral edge positions are occupied by Mg2+, some by Fe3+, and practically none by Al3+. Differences in acid-leaching behaviour between the two palygorskites was better related to accessible surface than chemical composition.