No abstract

The interactions between glycine and two Na-, Ca- and Cu-exchanged smectites with different layer-charge location were studied. The sorption of glycine depends on the nature of the interlayer cations (Ca < Na < Cu), and on the type of smectite. Sequential extraction procedures were carried out in order to test the possibility of removing metals and/or glycine from the smectite interlayer. By the end of the treatments, the release of the amino acid from the substrates, with the exception of Cu-rich smectite, was virtually complete. The thermal curves of glycine-smectites confirm the stronger bonding of the amino acid with Cu-exchanged samples, and FTIR spectra indicate that glycine is mainly sorbed in the zwitterionic form. The data obtained suggest that in investigations into mechanisms of the binding of metals by minerals and their subsequent mobilization, amino acids merit close attention.

No abstract

Rectorite crystals [[4](Si6.81Al1.19)[6](Al3.26Ti0.04Fe0.553+Mg0.18Mn0.01)[12](Na0.02K0.88 Mg0.16Ca0.01)O20(OH)4·0.75H2O] found in micaschist of the Sesia-Lanzo Zone (NW Italy) were studied using a variety of techniques including microprobe analysis, infrared spectroscopy, single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and thermal analysis. Chemical data and exchangeable cation determination indicate that K+ is the dominant non-exchangeable interlayer cation, and thus is believed to occupy the mica interlayer site; Mg2+ together with small amounts of Ca2+, Na+ and K+ represent the exchangeable cations and can therefore be related to the smectite-like component. The coefficient of variation, CV, of d(00l) values (CVnatural = 0.47; CVglycolated = 0.43) demonstrates the regularity of the mica-smectite interstratification, whereas the unit-cell parameters obtained by single crystal methods suggest different layer-stacking models.