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The nature of strontium binding by soil minerals directly affects the transport and sequestration/remediation of radioactive strontium species released from leaking high-level nuclear waste storage tanks. However, the molecular-level structure of strontium binding sites has seldom been explored in phyllosilicate minerals by direct spectroscopic means and is not well-understood. In this work, we use solid-state NMR to analyze strontium directly and indirectly in a fully strontium-exchanged synthetic mica of nominal composition Na(4)Mg(6)Al(4)Si(4)O(20)F(4). Thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, and NMR evidence supports that heat treatment at 500 degrees C for 4 h fully dehydrates the mica, creating a hydrogen-free interlayer. Analysis of the strontium NMR spectrum of the heat-treated mica shows a single strontium environment with a quadrupolar coupling constant of 9.02 MHz and a quadrupolar asymmetry parameter of 1.0. These quadrupolar parameters are consistent with a highly distorted and asymmetric coordination environment that would be produced by strontium cations without water in the coordination sphere bound deep within the ditrigonal holes. Evidence for at least one additional strontium environment, where proton-strontium couplings may occur, was found via a (1)H-(87)Sr transfer of populations by double resonance NMR experiment. We conclude that the strontium cations in the proton-free interlayer are observable by (87)Sr NMR and bound through electrostatic interactions as nine coordinate inner-sphere complexes sitting in the ditrigonal holes. Partially hydrated strontium cations invisible to direct (87)Sr NMR are also present and located on the external mica surfaces, which are known to hydrate upon exposure to atmospheric moisture. These results demonstrate that modern pulsed NMR techniques and high fields can be used effectively to provide structural details of strontium binding by phyllosilicate minerals.

Smelting of copper (Cu) results in the atmospheric deposition of Cu onto surrounding soils. Excess concentrations of Cu in soils can be absorbed by soil biota to toxic levels or leached into the groundwater, threatening the entire ecosystem. A means to restrict Cu mobility and uptake by plants is to remove it from the aqueous phase by applying an adsorptive material. A synthetic clay (highly charged swelling mica) was tested for its ability to decrease the levels of free and 0.1 M KNO3-extractable Cu in 15 surface soils from three different Cu mining areas in central Chile. The soils contained excessive total Cu levels (112-2790 mg Cu (kg soil)(-1)), while extractable Cu ranged from 0.3 to 22.9 mg Cu L(-1). The mica was applied to each soil at rates of 0.1%, 1%, and 2% (w/w). A 2% sodium-montmorillonite treatment and the nonamended soil served as controls. The order of treatment efficacy in reducing extractable Cu and free Cu2+ for low pH soils ( 1% mica > 2% montmorillonite > 0.1% mica. At 120 days, the 2% mica treatment maintained reductions of up to 93% in the free Cu2+ activity and up to 75% in the extractable Cu concentration upon acidification to the original soil pH value. In addition, Cu retention in mica-treated soils was more resistant to acidification than in lime-treated soils. This mica has promise for the remediation of acidic soils with metal contamination at the surface.