Vermiculite

About: Vermiculite is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2320 publications have been published within this topic receiving 37142 citations.

Analysis of the Importance of Oxides and Clays in Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn Adsorption and Retention with Regression Trees.

Abstract: This study determines the influence of the different soil components and of the cation-exchange capacity on the adsorption and retention of different heavy metals: cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead and zinc. In order to do so, regression models were created through decision trees and the importance of soil components was assessed. Used variables were: humified organic matter, specific cation-exchange capacity, percentages of sand and silt, proportions of Mn, Fe and Al oxides and hematite, and the proportion of quartz, plagioclase and mica, and the proportions of the different clays: kaolinite, vermiculite, gibbsite and chlorite. The most important components in the obtained models were vermiculite and gibbsite, especially for the adsorption of cadmium and zinc, while clays were less relevant. Oxides are less important than clays, especially for the adsorption of chromium and lead and the retention of chromium, copper and lead.

Organic intercalation of structure modified vermiculite.

Abstract: The experiment used cationic surfactants of different chain lengths to intercalate structure modified vermiculites. The influences of structure modification, chain length and dosage of surfactants on the intercalation behavior of vermiculites were studied, and intercalation mechanism and features of interlayer chemical reactions were discussed. Results indicate that structure modified vermiculites with different layer charge have different intercalation behavior. The basal spacing of the organic intercalated modified vermiculite is the largest when acid concentration used in structure modification is 0.003 mol/L, and increases with increasing the chain length and dosage of the organics. Molecular dynamics simulation verifies that interlayer organics align almost parallel to structure layer of vermiculite, with alkyl chain stretching to the middle of interlayer space. -N(+) groups of the three surfactants locate above the leached [SiO4], which has stronger interaction with interlayer organic cations. Electrostatic force is the main interaction force between interlayer organics and structure layer of vermiculite, and then is Van der Waals force, no chemical bond formed.

Use of isotope dilution to measure nitrogen fixation associated with the roots of sorghum and millet genotypes

Abstract: Genotypes of sorghum and millet have previously been found to have different amounts of root-associated acetylene reduction activity. Isotope dilution experiments using 15N have been carried out to evaluate the amount of nitrogen fixed by bacteria which is incorporated into the different genotypes when grown in vermiculite in the glasshouse. Isotope dilution result indicated that the content of shoot nitrogen derived from biological nitrogen fixation varied by up to 27% between sorghum genotypes and 17% between millet genotypes. Considerable isotope dilution also resulted from uptake of non-exchangeable-N (as NH 4 + ) in the vermiculite. It is possible that the genotypic differences in isotope dilution may reflect differences in the ability of plants to take up non-exchangeable-N, and that vermiculite is therefore an unsuitable growth medium for such studies.

Uptake of lanthanides by vermiculite

Abstract: The uptake of Ce3+, Nd3+, Gd3+, Er3+, and Lu3+ on vermiculite was studied using cation-exchange measurements, infrared spectroscopy (IR), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The reaction was followed by measuring the amount of lanthanide ions (Ln3+) taken up by n-butylammonium-ex-changed vermiculite in relation to amount of Ln3+ salt added and the pH of the equilibrium solution. The amount of Ln3+ taken up in excess of the CEC value increased with the hydration energy of the lanthanide ion and with the pH of the n-butylammonium-exchanged vermiculite suspension. At equilibrium solution pHs of 3–4.5, the uptake of Ln3+ ions was only slightly greater than the CEC, whereas at pHs >4.5 the amount taken up by the vermiculite increased sharply. The uptake of Ln3+ ions beyond the CEC of the vermiculite is probably related to the hydrolysis of Ln3+ ions on the vermiculite interlayer surface. The appearance of a band at 1715–1720 cm−1 in the IR spectra of the Ln3+-exchanged vermiculite suggests a strongly acidic medium in the interlayer space. The Ln3+-exchanged vermiculites gave XRD patterns having 002/001 intensity ratios greater than that of Mg-exchanged vermiculite.