Cation exchange, interlayer spacing, and thermal analysis of Na/Ca-montmorillonite modified with alkaline and alkaline earth metal ions

Abstract

Na-montmorillonites were exchanged with Li⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, Cs⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺, and Ba²⁺, while Ca-montmorillonites were treated with alkaline and alkaline earth ions except for Ra²⁺ and Ca²⁺. Montmorillonites with interlayer cations Li⁺ or Na⁺ have remarkable swelling capacity and keep excellent stability. It is shown that metal ions represent different exchange ability as follows: Cs⁺ > Rb⁺ > K⁺ > Na⁺ > Li⁺ and Ba²⁺ > Sr²⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺. The cation exchange capacity with single ion exchange capacity illustrates that Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ do not only take part in cation exchange but also produce physical adsorption on the montmorillonite. Although interlayer spacing d ₀₀₁ depends on both radius and hydration radius of interlayer cations, the latter one plays a decisive role in changing d ₀₀₁ value. Three stages of temperature intervals of dehydration are observed from the TG/DSC curves: the release of surface water adsorbed (36–84 °C), the dehydration of interlayer water and the chemical-adsorption water (47–189 °C) and dehydration of bound water of interlayer metal cation (108–268 °C). Data show that the quantity and hydration energy of ions adsorbed on montmorillonite influence the water content in montmorillonite. Mg²⁺-modified Na-montmorillonite which absorbs the most quantity of ions with the highest hydration energy has the maximum water content up to 8.84%.