Adsorption of Ions at the Interface of Clay Minerals and Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

Adsorption of ions at the interface of clay minerals and aqueous solutions plays a critical role in a wide spectrum of colloidal, chemical, physical, and geological processes. Owing to the particular complexity of related systems and the femtosecond scale of related processes, the direct experimental observations often become a challenging task. As a contrast, computer simulations have proven to be a competent and powerful approach therein and already realized fruitful and significant contributions. In this chapter, we attempt to draw a relatively comprehensive picture of the interfacial adsorption of ions mainly within the context of computer simulations. As elaborated, quantum mechanics (QM) and molecular dynamics (MD), two popular simulation techniques currently used, have respective advantages, and with their collaborative efforts, we are striding toward the in-depth and systematic understanding of adsorption configuration, distribution, stability, reaction thermodynamics and mechanism, dynamics, diffusivity as well as electric double layer and other fundamental issues that are closely associated with the adsorption of ions at the interface of clay minerals and aqueous solutions. In addition, we demonstrate that investigation of the interfacial adsorption of ions greatly helps to unravel the origin and mechanism of ion-specific effects, whose importance has been explicitly suggested to be no less than Gregor Mendel’s work to genetics.