Abstract
The vibrational modes of clay minerals in aqueous suspension are uniquely accessible to Raman spectroscopy, but this potentially powerful approach has not been applied heretofore to study clays in aqueous samples. In this paper, Raman spectra in the 100- to 4000-cm−1 region were obtained for kaolinite in aqueous suspension and in air-dry samples. Contact with water perturbed the low-wavenumber Raman spectrum (100 to 1000 cm−1) significantly with respect to relative band intensities and resulted in a pH dependence of the integrated intensity in the OH-stretching region. Comparison of the Raman and infrared (IR) spectra of air-dry kaolinite samples confirmed five Raman-active OH-stretching modes at 3621, 3652, 3668, 3688, and 3696 cm−1, in contrast to four IR-active modes at 3621, 3652, 3668, and 3695 cm−1. The Raman spectra of two kaolinites of different origin showed differences in band positions and intensities. These results suggest that Raman spectroscopy may provide a useful method to study clay mineral-water interactions, colloidal behavior in clay suspensions, and variations in clay mineral structure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, J. M. (1983) Hydrogen atom positions in kaolinite by neutron profile refinement: Clays & Clay Minerals 31, 352–356.
Bevington, P. R. (1977) Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences: McGraw-Hill, New York, 237–245.
Estep, P. A., Kouach, J. J., and Karr, C. (1968) Quantitative infrared multicomponent determinations of minerals in coal: Anal. Chem. 40, 358–363.
Farmer, V. C. (1974) The layer silicates: Ch. 15 in The Infrared Spectra of Minerals, V. C. Farmer, ed., Mineralogical Society, London, 331–363.
Giese, R. F., Jr. (1982) Theoretical studies of the kaolin minerals: electrostatic calculations: Bull. Soc. Fr. Mineral. Crystallogr. 105, 417–424.
Ishii, M., Shimanouchi, T., and Nakahira, M. (1967) Far infra-red absorption spectra of layer silicates: Inorg. Chim. Acta 1, 387–392.
Johnston, C. T. (1983) A Raman spectroscopic study of kaolinite: Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. California, Riverside, California, 71–78.
Johnston, C. T., Sposito, G., Bocian, D. F., and Birge, R. R. (1984) Vibrational spectroscopic study of the interlamellar kaolinite-dimethylsulfoxide complex: J. Phys. Chem. 88, 5959–5964.
Kerr, P. F. (1951) Preliminary Reports, Reference Clay Minerals, American Petroleum Institute Project No. 49: American Petroleum Institute, Columbia University, New York, 146 pp.
Larson, S. J., Pardoe, G. W. F., Gebbie, H. A., and Larson, E. E. (1972) The use of far infrared interferometric spectroscopy for mineral identification: Amer. Mineral. 57, 998–1002.
Ledoux, R. L. and White, J. L. (1964) Infrared study of selective deuteration of kaolinite and halloysite at room temperature: Science 145, 47–49.
Maddams, W. F. and Mead, M. L. (1982) The measurement of derivative IR spectra. I. Background studies: Spectro-chimica Acta 38A, 437–444.
Prost, R. (1984) Etude par spectroscopie infrarouge à basse température des groupes OH de structure de la kaolinite, de la dickite et de la nacrite: Agronomie 4, 403–406.
Rand, R. and Melton, I. E. (1975) Isoelectric point of the edge surface of kaolinite: Nature 257, 214–216.
Rouxhet, P. G., Samudacheata, N., Jacobs, H., and Anton, O. (1977) Attribution of the OH stretching bands of kaolinite: Clay Miner. 12, 171–178.
Schofield, R. K. and Samson, H. R. (1954) Flocculation of kaolinite due to the attraction of oppositely charged crystal faces: Disc. Faraday Soc. 18, 138–145.
Suitch, P. R. and Young, R. A. (1983) Atom positions in highly ordered kaolinite: Clays & Clay Minerals 31, 357–366.
van Olphen, H. and Fripiat, J.J. (1979) Data Handbook for Clay Materials and Other Non-metallic Minerals: Pergamon Press, New York, 346 pp.
Wada, K. (1967) A study of hydroxyl groups in kaolin minerals utilizing selective deuteration and infrared spectroscopy: Clay Miner. 7, 51–56.
White, J. L., Laycock, A., and Cruz, M. (1970) Infrared studies of proton delocalization in kaolinite: Bull. Groupe Franc. Argiles 22, 157–165.
Wiewiora, A., Wieckowski, T., and Sokolowska, A. (1979) The Raman spectra of kaolinite sub-group minerals and of pyrophyllite: Arch. Mineral. 135, 5–14.
Wilson, E. B., Decius, J. C., and Cross, P. C. (1955) Molecular Vibrations: McGraw-Hill, New York, 34–53.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Johnston, C.T., Sposito, G. & Birge, R.R. Raman Spectroscopic Study of Kaolinite in Aqueous Suspension. Clays Clay Miner. 33, 483–489 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1985.0330602
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1985.0330602