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Wettability of montmorillonite clays in humic acid solutions

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Clays and Clay Minerals

Abstract

The effect of humic acid (HA) adsorption on the hydrophilicity of two different montmorillonite samples (Na-montmorillonite, NaMt, and a Na-fluorinated Na-montmorillonite, FNaMt, or ‘Rassoul’) was investigated. The changes in the wettability of clays were discussed in terms of the non-electrostatic free energy of interaction between the clay particles immersed in aqueous humic acid solutions (ΔG121), using the van Oss-Chaudhury-Good (vOCG) model. The surface free energy components (both non-polar or Lifshitz-van der Waals, and polar or acid-base) of clays were obtained from contact angle measurements, after adsorption of humic acid, at acid or basic pH, in 10−2 M NaCl solutions. It was found that: (1) at acid pH, a progressive decrease in the hydrophilic character of both clays was observed when the humic acid concentration was increased; (2) at basic pH, the hydrophilic character of both samples studied increased with HA concentration; (3) the effect of humic acid adsorption on the wettability of model edge surfaces of the laminar montmorillonite particles was estimated from a parallel study on silica and alumina surfaces, and only a slight decrease in the hydrophilicity was observed, whatever the pH of the liquid media. The ζ potentials of both clays in the absence and presence of humic acid were determined and the linkage between ζ potential and the electron-donor character of the materials is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Juan Dios García de López-Durán & Fernando González-Caballero

  2. Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 93000, Tetouan, Morocco

    Asmae Khaldoun & Mohamed Larbi Kerkeb

  3. Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Experimental Sciences, University of Jaén, 23071, Jaén, Spain

    María del Mar Ramos-Tejada

Authors
  1. Juan Dios García de López-Durán
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  2. Asmae Khaldoun
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  3. Mohamed Larbi Kerkeb
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  4. María del Mar Ramos-Tejada
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  5. Fernando González-Caballero
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Correspondence to Fernando González-Caballero.

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de López-Durán, J.D.G., Khaldoun, A., Kerkeb, M.L. et al. Wettability of montmorillonite clays in humic acid solutions. Clays Clay Miner. 51, 65–74 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2003.510108

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2003.510108

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