Abstract
Specimen samples of Crook County montmorillonite and Silver Hill illite, purified and prepared in the Na-form, were imaged under 80% relative humidity using an atomic force microscope. The direct images showed clearly the hexagonal array of hexagonal rings of oxygen ions expected for the basal planes of 2:1 phyllosilicates. Fourier transformation of the digital information obtained by the microscope scanning tip led to an estimate of 5.1 ± 0.3 Å for the nearest-neighbor separation, in agreement with the ideal nearest-neighbor spacing of 5.4 Å for hexagonal rings as derived from X-ray powder diffraction data. The atomic force microscope should prove to be a useful tool for the molecular-scale resolution of clay mineral surfaces that contain adsorbed macromolecules. -Authors
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 337-342 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Clays & Clay Minerals |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1990 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Water Science and Technology
- Soil Science
- Geochemistry and Petrology
- Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)