Quantitative study of smectite with small angle X-ray scattering and methylene blue adsorption

Abstract

Smectite is a clay mineral and used for various applications because of useful characteristics such as low water permeability, high degree of swelling and high cation exchange capacity. This study conducted small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and methylene blue adsorption methods for samples containing smectite, to estimate the content of smectite in samples. Result of SAXS method shows scattering of amorphous nanoparticles and 001 reflection of smectite. The result was transformed into normalized intensities according to Tsukimura and Suzuki (2020). The normalized scattering was approximated by a simple function and separated from the smectite intensities. Methylene blue adsorption was measured by colorimetric method proposed by JIS Z 2451 (2019). The normalized intensities of smectite were correlated with methylene blue adsorption of some of the samples collected in Japan.