Surface charge properties of clays with emphasis on smectites

George E. Christidis

Abstract

Smectitic clays display remarkable properties when dispersed in water due to their surface charge. This charge stems from various substitutions in their crystal structure both in tetrahedral and octahedral sites, which yield layer charge. Although the layer charge has been linked to several water-rock properties of smectitic clays namely cation exchange capacity, swelling and viscosity, it is a microscopic property referring to the unit cell i.e. at atomic level. In contrast smectite-water properties are macroscopic and refer to smectite particles. Therefore recently we introduced the term of fundamental particle charge (fpc) which pertains to the smectite particles rather than the unic cell. The Fpc is a macroscopic property which is useful in understanding the behaviour of smectite-water systems and interpreting smectite-water properties. In addition the fpc approach might be useful in soil stabilization, because it can assist in predicting failures.

Keywords

Clays, Smectite, Layer Charge, Fundamental Particle Charge, Soil Properties

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IMEKO-TC4-GEO-2016-03.pdf

DOI

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IMEKO TC

TC4 - Measurement of Electrical Quantities

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