Understanding the impact of kaolinite/muscovite ratio in natural clays on oxide contents, physisorbed water, and structural water fractions

The objective of the present work, is to comprehend the impact of two naturals non-swelling phyllosilicates, namely kaolinite/muscovite ratio, denoted as f(K/M), on the physicochemical properties of the sample. This includes oxide content as well as the fractions of physisorbed and the structural water. To achieve this, the adsorbed amount on the clay sample was assessed using the cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethyl ammonium chloride CTACl) by measuring the Streaming Induced Potential (SIP) at the Point of Zero Charge (PZC). Further, the physisorbed water and structural water losses present in the clay sample, were determined through DTA/TGA thermal analysis. In addition, the kaolinite/muscovite ratios, denoted as f(K/M), characterizing the samples, were calculated using the elemental compositions of various metal oxides as obtained via X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. [Display omitted] •The structural water calculated by XRF and obtained by DTA-TGA analysis are perfectly correlated.•The increasing of kaolinite fraction in the sample increases the physisorbed and structural waters.•The increasing of water mass loss in the sample increases the CTACl cationic surfactant retained.