-Tetramethylphosphonium-smectite (TMP-clay) and tetramethylammonium-smectite (TMAclay), were prepared and characterized as adsorbents for a series of aromatic and chlorinated hydrocarbons. The sorption of benzene, alkylbenzenes, and carbon tetrachloride as vapors and as solutes from water was studied to evaluate the effect of water on adsorption efficiency. Adsorption of organic vapors depended...

The dielectric dispersion behaviour of montmorillonite (MMT) clay nanoparticles colloidal suspension in poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)-ethylene glycol (PVP-EG) blends were investigated over the frequency range 20 Hz to 1 MHz at 30°C. The 0, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 wt% MMT clay concentration of the weight of total solute (MMT+PVP) were prepared in PVP-EG blends using EG as solvent. The complex relative diele...

Colloidal particles are often used to make Pickering emulsions that are reported to be very stable. Commonly the stabilization is a combined effect of particle adsorbing at the fluid interface and a particle network in the continuous phase; the contribution of each to the overall stability is difficult to assess. We investigate the role of LAPONITE® particles on high internal phase emulsion sta...

Incubation experiment was conducted on four soil types in Nigeria using cattle dung (CD) at the rate of 2.5g/kg soil ( 5 t ha), Urea fertilizer at the rate of 0.1g/kg soil ( 200 kg ha ) and cattle dung (2.5g/kg soil) combined with Urea 0.05g/kg soil (100 kg ha) as treatments. The objective of the experiment was to compare the rate of OC, NH4 – N, NO3 – N and available P release on soils selecte...

Introduction: Clay minerals are the most common alteration products of water-rock-gas interactions on Earth. Because these hydrous alteration minerals are thermodynamically stable over a wide range of P-T-x conditions [1], significant amounts of clay may have also formed in Martian environments where liquid water or water vapor was present. It has been speculated that liquid water or vapor may ...

Smectite-rich clay is a major engineered barrier (buffer) in repositories for heat-producing highly radioactive waste. It has the form of densely compacted blocks of clay granules and is only partly water saturated from start. The initial porewater is redistributed by the thermal gradient acting in the buffer and additional water is taken up to give ultimately complete saturation. The compactio...

Inspired by the layered aragonite platelet/nanofibrillar chitin/protein ternary structure and integration of extraordinary strength and toughness of natural nacre, artificial nacre based on clay platelet/nanofibrillar cellulose/poly(vinyl alcohol) is constructed through an evaporation-induced self-assembly technique. The synergistic toughening effect from clay platelets and nanofibrillar cellul...

Tropical forests include a diversity of habitats, which has led to specialization in plants. Near Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon, nutrient-rich clay forests surround nutrient-poor white-sand forests, each harboring a unique composition of habitat specialist trees. We tested the hypothesis that the combination of impoverished soils and herbivory creates strong natural selection for plant defens...

Test borings in the western basin of Lake Erie have revealed an extensive sub-bottom deposit of sand in a triangular region bounded by Stony Point on the mainland shore of Michigan, Middle Sister Island in Ontario, and West Sister Island in Ohio. The 550 km deposit is overlain by up to 7 m of more recent lacustrine silts and clays. The sand beds have an average thickness of 2.3 m, yielding a to...

Disarticulated and incomplete remains from a new diminutive ornithopod are described. They come from the Cameros Basin in the north of Spain and were collected from the red clays of the Castrillo de la Reina Formation, ranging from Upper Barremian to Lower Aptian. The new ornithopod described here is slender and one of the smallest ever reported. An up-to-date phylogenetic analysis recovers thi...