In this study, removal of copper (Cu(2+)) and zinc (Zn(2+)) from aqueous solutions is investigated using Cankiri bentonite, a natural clay. During the removal process, batch technique is used, and the effects of pH, clay amount, heavy metal concentration and agitation time on adsorption efficiency are studied. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms are applied in order to...

Polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites belong to a new class of hybrid materials consisting of organic-synthetic polymer matrix and inorganic filler-layered structure clay minerals. The paper presents the results of FTIR, NMR, and SAXS studies of poly(ε-caprolactone)/sodium montmorillonite nanocomposites. We observed a correlation between the concentration of poly(ε-caprolactone) in nanocompos...

In this paper we report the effect of the incorporation of nano-dimensional clay platelets, laponite, on the J-aggregation of a thiacyanine dye N,N'-dioctadecyl thiacyanine perchlorate (NK) assembled into Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayers. pi-A isotherms and atomic force microscopic studies confirm the successful incorporation of clay platelets into the Langmuir monolayer of NK. J-aggregates of...

An enigmatic stepwise increase in oxygen in the late Precambrian is widely considered a prerequisite for the expansion of animal life. Accumulation of oxygen requires organic matter burial in sediments, which is largely controlled by the sheltering or preservational effects of detrital clay minerals in modern marine continental margin depocenters. Here, we show mineralogical and geochemical evi...

Kimberlite is described as a diverse and complex hybrid rock in the literature. It is also described as volatile rich, potassic, ultrabasic, igneous rocks that occur as volcanic pipes, dykes and sills1. The minerals present in kimberlites vary widely and can include from trace to predominance any of the following minerals: apatite, calcite, chlorite, diopside (pyroxene), magnetite, monticellite...

Chlorinated solvents in the subsurface are a widespread problem with thousands of impacted sites in the United States. A large body of literature exists that evaluates treatment of chlorinated solvents using granular zero valent iron, which has been shown to treat chlorinated solvents via reductive dechlorination. Much of this literature is conducted within the context of permeable reactive bar...

This paper presents a finite element study of the stability and deformation of a cofferdam incorporating bucket foundations in soft clays at Zhuanghai Artificial Island. The development of excess pore pressures in the clays has been investigated in terms of the progress of construction, geometry of structures and hence the load resulted. The effect of prefabricated drains on the behavior of the...

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) data are reported from a system that models the contamination of a clay/organic matter soil from a fuel spillage. The soil was represented as an aqueous dispersion of the synthetic clay mineral Laponite coated with lysine, and the contaminant was a representative jet fuel, quadricyclane, mixed with the detergent cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The ad...

The shear response of a model polymer–clay gel is measured using small-angle neutron and light scattering, optical microscopy, and rheometry. As the flow disrupts the transient network that forms between clay and polymer, coupling between composition and stress leads to the formation of a macroscopic domain pattern, while the clay platelets orient with their surface normal parallel to the direc...

Long ago, people must have realised that clay could be used to take imprints of simple objects like a leaf, or later, a coin. Carefully withdrawing the clay gave a negative of the object or a mold in which other materials like plaster could be cast to reproduce the original. Clay is still used today to make molds, particularly to reproduce museum pieces like statues, not only because it is inex...