Mesoscopic structures of vermiculite and weathered biotite clays in suspension with and without cesium ions

Motokawa, Ryuhei   ; Endo, Hitoshi*; Yokoyama, Shingo*; Ogawa, Hiroki*; Kobayashi, Toru ; Suzuki, Shinichi; Yaita, Tsuyoshi

The effect of cesium (Cs) adsorption on the mesoscopic structure of the clay minerals vermiculite and weathered biotite (WB) in suspensions was elucidated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The clay minerals form multilayered structures and the Cs cations are strongly adsorbed in the interlayer space of the soil clays, in particular vermiculite and WB. SAXS was used to monitor the relationship between Cs adsorption at the clay interlayers and the structural changes at length scales from 0.1 to 100 nm. The variation in the distance between the neighboring clay sheets and the spatial arrangement of the clay sheets with and without Cs were clarified. Our quantitative analyses revealed that the number of stacked layers of pure vermiculite was decreased by Cs addition, whereas that of WB increased. Moreover, the average distance between the neighboring layers of vermiculite in suspension was larger than that of WB, which reflects the different conditions of Cs intercalation. These findings provide fundamental insights that are important for predicting the environmental fate of radioactive cesium in contaminated regions and for developing methods for extracting cesium from soil.