Adsorption isotherms and UV-visible and Mössbauer spectroscopic data point to specific interactions between flavomononucleotide (FMN) and Fe3+-smectite. The maximum amount of FMN adsorption was 0.3 mmole/g of Fe3+-smectite giving a 1:1 molar proportion of Fe3+ and FMN. The results suggest a Fe3+-FMN complex residing at the smectite surface. Other homoionic smectites (Cu2+, Zn2+, and Ca2+) exhibited lower levels of adsorption and less apparent specific interaction.

The effects of chemical reduction of structural Fe3+ in nontronite SWa-1 (ferruginous smectite) on intervalence electron transfer (IT) and magnetic exchange were investigated. Visible absorption spectra in the region 800-400 nm of a chemical reduction series of the SWa-1 nontronite revealed an IT band near 730 nm (13,700 cm−1). Both the intensity and position of this band were affected by the extent of Fe reduction. The intensity increased until the Fe2+ content approached 40% of the total Fe, then decreased slightly with more Fe2+. The position of the band also shifted to lower energy as the extent of reduction increased.

Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements showed that the magnetic exchange in unaltered nontronite is frustrated antiferromagnetic, but ferromagnetic in reduced samples. Magnetic ordering temperatures are in the range 10–50 K, depending on the extent of reduction. The ferromagnetic component in the magnetization curve increased with increasing Fe2+ in the crystal structure. The positive paramagnetic interaction likely is due to electron charge transfer from Fe2+ to Fe3+ through such structural linkages as Fe2+-O-Fe3+ (perhaps following a double exchange mechanism), which is consistent with the visible absorption spectra.

Redox properties of iron-bearing mineral surfaces may play an important role in controlling the transport and transformation of pollutants into ground waters. Suspensions of seven iron-bearing minerals were reacted with pH and redox indicators under anaerobic conditions at the pH of the natural suspension. The responses of the indicators to the mineral surfaces were monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy using a scattered transmission technique. The Hammett surface acidity function (Hs) and the surface redox potential (Ehs) of these iron-bearing minerals were measured. These measured values were used to calculate Eh values for the seven minerals: goethite = +293 mV; chlorite = +290 mV; hematite = +290 mV; almandite = +282 mV; ferruginous smectite = +275 mV; pyrite = +235 mV; and Na-vermiculite = +223 mV. Calculated surface redox potentials of minerals are different from their potentials measured by platinum electrode in bulk suspensions. UV-visible spectroscopy provides a quick and non-destructive way of monitoring organic probe response at the mineral surface.

The interaction of the water-soluble 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(l -methyl-4-pyridyl)-21H,23H-porphine (TMPyP) with different 2:1 phyllosilicates was examined by Raman and UV-visible spectroscopies. The clay samples were saturated with the tetracationic porphyrin and isolated from the aqueous suspension. A red shift of the Soret band was observed for all the clay-TMPyP systems in the order vermiculite < Laponite < mica-smectite (Syn-1) < montmorillonite (SWy-2). Furthermore, three components were observed for the Soret band (at ~425, 455 and 488 nm). Raman spectra of the isolated solids excited at 457.9 nm, 488.0 nm and 514.5 nm suggest the occurrence of porphyrin protonation, nonplanar distortion and rotation of the meso substituent. Based on the vibrational data, an acidity scale was proposed for the clays: vermiculite < Laponite < SWy-2 < Syn-1. The relative contribution of the protonated spectra is larger at 457.9 nm than at 488.0 nm, suggesting that the peak at 455 nm corresponds to the protonated species. In Laponite, the relative intensity of the meso substituent band at ~1635 cm-1 indicates that the dihedral angle formed between the porphyrin and the methyl-pyridyl rings decreased in the non-protonated porphyrin as a consequence of intercalation. Raman data are thus consistent with the presence of at least two porphyrin species in resonance at 457.9 nm: the protonated and a more planar non-protonated porphyrin. At 488.0 nm the number of enhanced modes increases suggesting a decrease in the porphyrin symmetry. This allows assignment of the absorption band centered at 488 nm to a non-planar porphyrin conformation.

The adsorption of [M(bpy)3]2+ ions (M = Ru or Os) by clay films immersed in pure water and in electrolyte solutions was investigated by electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), UV-visible spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. In water, the adsorption of the cations resulted in a decrease in the mass of the films. This decrease in mass is attributed to the expulsion of some 50 water molecules from the clay interlayer spaces for each cation adsorbed. Water is lost to make room for the large metal complex cations in the interlayer spaces, and because of decreases in the volume of the interlayer spaces during adsorption of the cations. In 0.05 M NaCl or 0.05 M Na2SO4, UV-visible measurements show a rapid initial adsorption of the cations by ion exchange, followed by a slower additional adsorption of the cations above the clay’s CEC, presumably as ion pairs with the electrolyte counter ions. The EQCM show initial reductions in the mass of the films that were two to three times larger in pure water. These initial mass decreases were followed by smaller mass ‘re-increases’ at longer times that were not observed in water. The larger initial mass losses are attributed to the loss of more water from the clay interlayer spaces. In 0.5 M Na2SO4 or 1.0 M NaCl, adsorption of the cations never exceeded the clay’s CEC. The initial decreases in mass upon addition of the cations all but disappeared, leaving only the smaller positive mass changes at longer times.