Paleoenvironmental Conditions during the Paleocene–Eocene Transition Imprinted within the Glauconitic Giral Member of the Barmer Basin, India

The roughly 6 m thick limestone–green shale alternation within the lignite-bearing Giral Member of the Barmer Basin corresponds to a marine flooding event immediately after the Paleocene–Eocene transition. A detailed characterization of the glauconite using Electron Probe Micro Analyzer (EPMA), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer and Field Emission Gun-Scanning Electron Microscope (FEG-SEM) reveals its origin in the backdrop of prevailing warm climatic conditions. The glauconite pellets vary from fine silt-sized to coarse sand-sized pellets, often reaching ~60% of the rock by volume. Mineralogical investigation reveals a ‘nascent’ to ‘slightly evolved’ character of the marginal marine-originated glauconite showing considerable interstratification. The chemical composition of the glauconite is unusual with a high Al2O3 (>10 wt%) and moderately high Fe2O3(total) contents (>15 wt%). While the K2O content of these glauconites is low, the interlayer sites are atypically rich in Na2O, frequently occupying ~33% of the total interlayer sites. The Mössbauer spectrum indicates 10% of the total iron is in ferrous form. High tetrahedral Al3+ of these glauconites suggests a high-alumina substrate that transformed to glauconite by octahedral Al-for-Fe substitution followed by the addition of K into the interlayer structure. The unusually high Na2O suggests the possibility of a soda-rich pore water formed by the dissolution of alkaline volcanic minerals. The Giral glauconite formation could have been a part of the major contributors in the Fe-sequestration cycle in the Early Eocene shelves. Warm climate during the Early Eocene time favored the glauconitization because of the enhanced supply of Fe, Al, and Si and proliferation of an oxygen-depleted depositional environment.

Introducing Voids around the Interlayer of AlN by High Temperature Annealing

To introduce voids at certain height in AlN layer by a simple method is meaningful but challenging. In this work, the AlN/sapphire template with AlN interlayer structure has been designed and grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Then the AlN template was annealed at 1700℃ for an hour to introduce the voids. It has been found that the voids were formed in the AlN layer after high temperature annealing and the positions of the voids were mainly distributed around the AlN interlayer. Meanwhile, the dislocation density of the AlN template has been decreased from 5.26×109 cm-2 to 5.10×108 cm-2. This work provides a possible method to introduce voids in AlN layer at designated height, which will benefit the design of AlN-based devices.

Intercalation and calcination as methods to reduce expansive soil properties

The expansive ability of soil causes a series of problems in various sectors. The dominance of smectite clay minerals significantly affects expansive ability because they have an unstable interlayer structure. Cation intercalation and calcination is a treatment method that can increase the stability of the clay interlayer structure. This research investigated the effects of intercalation cations and calcination treatment on the swelling ability and cracking properties in the clay from vertisols; the cations used for intercalation were aluminum and iron. The intercalation tested doses were based on the equivalent weight of 0x, 0.5x, and 1x cation exchange capacity (CEC) clay value. The calcination treatments used were 200°C, 300°C, and no calcination. Each treatment interaction was repeated three times. Parameters observed were the total area, average crack width, average lump area, total number of lumps, moisture content, swelling volume, and pH after treatment. The results showed that each treatment had a significant effect. Clay with an Al intercalation dose of 1x CEC without calcination treatment had the highest total area after drying, which was 41.035 cm²; the lowest average crack width was 0.153 cm, and the smallest swelling volume was 3.6 cm³. In contrast, the clay without intercalation and calcination treatments had a swelling volume up to 10 cm³ on the 7^th day. The clay with an Al intercalation dose of 1x CEC with 200°C calcination exhibited the best results in reducing the expansive clay ability and can be used as a guideline for further testing to reduce the soil’s expansive ability.

Structure-property correlations in piracetam polytypes

Polymorphs II and III of piracetam exhibit a polytypic relationship comprising identical layers of molecules with different relative arrangements. Polymorph II has an interlayer structure in which the piracetam molecules...

Investigation on the Synergistic Effect of Surfactants for Silylation of Montmorillonite

Silylation, also known as silane grafting, is frequently used to organically modify montmorillonite (organo-Mt), which of properties were depended on the type of siloxane and intercalated interlayer structure of Mt, for construction of functional materials utilizing in a variety application of industry. We have synthesized organo-Mt using different siloxanes after Mt was firstly modified at three different surfactants of cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), anionic sodium oleate (So) and nonionic sorbitan monostearate (Span60) to identifying the effect of surfactants for silylation of Mt. The spectral and structural characters of the obtained products were characterized by a combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetry (TG), and contact angle analysis. The basal spacing of the organo-Mt increased with surfactants loading. We found that CTAB can significantly increase the spacing between layers of Mt from 1.55nm to 1.90nm, load more siloxane on Mt. The average contact angles of CTAB-Mt-APTES and CTAB-Mt-PTES were 69.9±0.3° and 80.7±0.3°, which could be more prone to the interlayer locking effect. Our study showed that the charge of surfactants has significant influence for silylation of Mt, resulting in the loading amount of silane, interlayer structure, and the surface wetting properties.