Clay Mineral Analysis
Identifying clay type and content (in particular different swelling clays) is important for many industries from building and construction to oil and gas. Sietronics can provide full clay analysis services, including speciation of clay minerals and quantification of the total clay content in the sample.
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Some of the clay minerals we can identify and quantify include:
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halloysite/kaolinite/nacrite
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smectites (e.g., montmorllonite, saponite, nontronite, hectorite)
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micas/illites
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vermiculites
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chlorites
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XRD Clay Analysis
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The primary method for clay analysis is via X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Depending on the requirements, we offer the following analysis services:
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Bulk Analysis with clay quantification. This service will give a general quantification of the amount of clay present in the sample, without speciation of the different clays.
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Clay analysis with speciation. The clay component of the sample (< 2um portion) is separated, and undergoes several treatments to speciate the different clay minerals present.
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Treatments include:
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Glycolation​
- Heating to 400c
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​Heating fo 550c
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In addition to the standard treatments above, we can also offer Halloysite analysis. For this type of analysis, the sample is treated with formamide, causing the halloysites to unravel, shifting the kaolinite peak from 7A to 10A. Positive identification of Halloysites can be important in many cases, as halloysite's tubular structure results in greater water retention and lower stability.
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SEM Clay Analysis
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SEMcan also be ​​used in addition to XRD when more information about the clays is required. SEM with EDXRF can provide chemistry of particular areas of a sample, and the high magnification that SEM allows can identify the structure and form of the clays.
