Ni clay neoformation on montmorillonite surface

Polarized extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (P-EXAFS) w as used to study the sorption mechanism of Ni on the aluminous hydrous sili cate montmorillonite at high ionic strength (0.3 M NaClO4), pH 8 and a Ni c oncentration of 0.66 mM. Highly textured self-supporting clay films were ob tained by slowly filtrating a clay suspension after a reaction time of 14 d ays. P-EXAFS results indicate that sorbed Ni has a Ni clay-like structural environment with the same crystallographic orientation as montmorillonite l ayers.