Chapter 3 Surface and Interface Chemistry of Clay Minerals

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter describes surface and interface chemistry of clay minerals. The surface properties of clay minerals depend on many factors including chemical composition, nature of the surface atoms (mainly oxygen and hydrogen), extent and type of defect sites, layer charge and the type of exchangeable cation(s). One distinguishes between the edge surface and the planar surface, edges being usually associated with defect sites and pH-dependent charges. The chapter starts with a description of the surface atoms and surfaces of clay minerals and continues with the interaction between the surface atoms and adsorbed molecules with special attention to water. The chapter also discusses the surface chemistry of smectites in aqueous suspension, leading to the exciting recent research on clay mineral nanofilms.