Pore distribution of compacted Ca-montmorillonite using NMR relaxometry and cryoporometry; Comparison with Na-montmorillonite

Okubo, Takahiro*; Yamazaki, Akio*; Fukatsu, Yuta; Tachi, Yukio

Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 313, p.110841_1 - 110841_11, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2020.110841

Pore distributions in water-saturated Ca-montmorillonite were investigated using H NMR measurements under various dry densities (0.8 - 1.6 g/cm) and porewater salinity conditions (deionized water, 0.1 and 1 M CaCl), at the temperature range of 233 - 303 K. The volume fractions of the interlayer pore including two and three hydrated layers and the non-interlayer pore in compacted Ca-montmorillonite were quantified by NMR relaxometry including and distribution analysis, and were compared with NMR cryoporometry and X-ray diffractometry. These analysis provided consistent pictures on the pore distributions in compacted Ca-montmorillonite, in contrast to Na-montmorillonite. The main factor affecting the pore distribution in compacted Ca- and Na-montmorillonite is the density, whereas the effect of porewater salinity is relatively smaller. The effect of interlayer cations is also relatively smaller at higher density, although the differences in the pore structures are significant at low density.