THE MECHANOCHEMICAL REACTIONS BETWEEN CSF AND KAOLINITE

The grinding of a mixture containing kaolinite and CsF was carried out by three different techniques, short manual grinding, Fisher mechanic al mortar and Retsch ball mill. In addition to different cesium alumin ium silicates which were detected by X-ray powder diffraction, a new t ype of intercalation complex was identified by FTIR spectroscopy. The X-ray diffractogram of this complex did not show any basal spacing, wh ich may characterize the complex but the 0.715 nm characteristic peak of the untreated kaolinite became very weak. The Retsch ball mill led to a slight destruction of the kaolinite and the formation of small am ounts of the new intercalation complex. The delamination of book-like kaolinite assemblages was observed after the manual and Fisher mortar grindings. In the latter grinding techniques the kaolin-like layers pe rsisted and served as the framework for the intercalation complexes.