Geochemical studies of bio-organic-montmorillonite in synthetic sea water and fresh water systems

Abstract

Transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction (SAD) studies have been made to evaluate the changes in the degree of coacervation of the less than 2.0 μ fraction of a Wyoming montmorillonite. These changes are reported to be a function of the selected bio-organics dissolved in the fresh water and synthetic sea water systems. The laboratory sample preparation techniques used in this study included: gravitational settling, ultrasonic dispersion, counter-current dialysis, hydrogen-ion determinations and continuous electrophoretic fractionation. The methods of direct weighing and volumetric dilution analysis were employed in the preparation of selected carbohydrate and amino acid concentrations. The results of this study suggest that carbohydrates and amino acids interact with the micellar montmorillonite and change the degree of coacervation of the systems. These interactions have been characterized by ultra-micromorphological modal stages. The mono-di- and trisaccharide carbohydrates are reported to induce fresh water micellar morphological characteristics that are related to time of exposure, minimum threshold concentration ratios and pH. The binding mechanism for the trisaccharide raffinose is suggested, but not proven, to be interlatticular in nature and may occur as a result of hydrogen bonding via hydroxyl centers located on the micellar surface. ...