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Nanoporosity Characteristics of Some Natural Clay Minerals and Soils

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Clays and Clay Minerals

Abstract

Limited information is available on microporosity in soils. A study was undertaken to investigate the micropore characteristics of four soil samples, with different particle-size distributions, and four natural silicate clay minerals. Specific surface area and the differential micropore-size distribution were taken into account to characterize the microstructure of the soils and clays. The micropore-size distributions showed a maximum contribution to the total microporosity by pores having an effective pore radius of ∼20 Å, thus indicating that that category of pore contributes more than others to the total microporosity of the system. For both soils and clays a good exponential correlation was found between the maximum contribution to the microporosity and their specific surface area. A linear relationship was also found between the microporosity of the soils and their clay content. It has been concluded that the micropore system formed by 20 Å pores is mainly located in the clay fraction of the soil, and contributes significantly to defining some of the most notable physicochemical properties of soils and clays.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Soil Chemistry, Research Area, CNR, Institute of Ecosystem Studies (ISE), Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    R. Aringhieri

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  1. R. Aringhieri
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Correspondence to R. Aringhieri.

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Aringhieri, R. Nanoporosity Characteristics of Some Natural Clay Minerals and Soils. Clays Clay Miner. 52, 700–704 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2004.0520604

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2004.0520604

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