Effects of Organic Cation Structure on Behavior of Organobentonites
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 127, Issue 4
Abstract
This study quantified the effects of four quaternary ammonium cations (TMA, DTMA, HDTMA, and BTEA) on the mechanical properties of a modified Wyoming bentonite. TMA, DTMA, and HDTMA are organic cations with alkyl chains of lengths 1, 10, and 16 carbons, while BTEA has a benzyl ring attached. Substitution of the organic cations onto the bentonite surfaces altered the soil's behavior by: (1) reducing the soil's specific gravity, with the specific gravity decreasing linearly as the size of the exchanged organic cation was increased; (2) dramatically reducing the soil's liquid limit (from 458% for the unmodified bentonite to 52–65% for the organoclays); (3) reducing the compressibility of the clays (from a compression index of 5.5 for the unmodified bentonite to compression indices of 0.47–0.59 for the organoclays); (4) reducing the swell potential (Cs = ∼1.5 for bentonite compared with 0.035–0.083 for the organoclays); and (5) increasing the direct shear friction angle (7° for unmodified bentonite compared with 34–37° for the organoclays).
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Alther, G. A. ( 1995). “Organically modified clay removes oil from water.” Waste Mgmt., 12(8), 623–628.
2.
ASTM. ( 1990). “Standard test method for direct shear test of soils under consolidated drained conditions.” ASTM D3080-90, West Conshohocken, Pa.
3.
ASTM. ( 1992). “Standard test method for specific gravity of soils.” ASTM D854-92, West Conshohocken, Pa.
4.
ASTM. ( 1995). “Standard test method for liquid limit, plastic limit, and plasticity index of soils.” ASTM D4318-95a, West Conshohocken, Pa.
5.
ASTM. ( 1996). “Standard test method for one-dimensional consolidation properties of soils.” ASTM D2435-96, West Conshohocken, Pa.
6.
Boyd, S. A., Lee, J.-F., and Mortland, M. M. ( 1988a). “Attenuating organic contaminant mobility by soil modification.” Nature, 333, 345–347.
7.
Boyd, S. A., Mortland, M. M., and Chiou, C. T. ( 1988b). “Sorption characteristics of organic compounds on hexadecyltrimethylammonium-smectite.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 52, 652–657.
8.
Boyd, S. A., Sun, S., Lee, J.-F., and Mortland, M. M. ( 1988c). “Pentachlorophenol sorption by organo-clays.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 36(2), 125–130.
9.
Brixie, J. M., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1994). “Organic chemicals in the environment: Treatment of contaminated soils with organoclays to reduce leachable pentachlorophenol.” J. Envir. Quality, 23, 1283.
10.
De D. K., Kanungo, J. L. D., and Chakravarti, S. K. ( 1974). “Interaction of crystal violet and malachite green with bentonite and their desorption by inorganic and surface active quaternary ammonium ions.” Indian J. Chem., 12, 165–166.
11.
Deitsch, J. J., Smith, J. A., Arnold, M. B., and Bolus, J. ( 1998). “Sorption and desorption rates of carbon tetrachloride and 1,2-dichlorobenzene to three organobentonites and a natural peat soil.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 32(20), 3169–3177.
12.
Evans, J. C., and Alther, G. ( 1991). “Hazardous waste stabilization using organically modified clays.” Proc., Geotech. Engrg. Congr., ASCE, Boulder, Colo., 1149–1162.
13.
Evans, J. C., and Pancoski, S. E. ( 1989). “Organically modified clays.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1219, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 160–168.
14.
Evans, J. C., Pancoski, S. E., and Alther, G. ( 1989). “Organic waste treatment with organically modified clays.” Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on New Frontiers for Haz. Waste Mgmt., USEPA, Pittsburgh, 48–58.
15.
Jaynes, W. F., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1990). “Trimethylphenylammonium-smectite as an effective adsorbent of water soluble aromatic hydrocarbons.” J. Air Waste Mgmt. Assn., 40, 1649–1653.
16.
Jaynes, W. F., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1991a). “Clay mineral type and organic compound sorption by hexadecyltrimethylammonium-exchanged clays.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 55, 43–48.
17.
Jaynes, W. F., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1991b). “Hydrophobicity of siloxane surfaces in smectites as revealed by aromatic hydrocarbon adsorption from water.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 39(4), 428–436.
18.
Jaynes, W. F., and Vance, G. F. ( 1996). “BTEX sorption by organo-clay: Cosorptive enhancement and equivalence of interlayer complexes.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 60, 1742–1749.
19.
Jaynes, W. F., and Vance, G. F. ( 1999). “Sorption of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) compounds by hectorite clays exchanged with aromatic organic cations.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 47(3), 358–365.
20.
Kozen, G. R. ( 1956). “A quaternary ammonium salt as a stabilizing agent in Vicksburg loess soil.” Misc. Paper #3-151, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Miss.
21.
Lagaly, G. ( 1982). “Layer charge heterogeneity in vermiculites.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 30, 215–222.
22.
Lagaly, G., and Weiss, A. ( 1969). “Determination of the layer charge in mica-type layer silicates.” Proc., Int. Clay Conf., Israel Universities Press, Tokyo, 61–80.
23.
Lee, J.-F., Crum, J. R., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1989a). “Enhanced retention of organic contaminants by soils exchanged with organic cations.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 23, 1365.
24.
Lee, J.-F., Mortland, M. M., Chiou, C. T., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1989b). “Shape selective adsorption of aromatic molecules from water by tetramethylammonium smectite.” J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans., 1, 85, 2953–2962.
25.
Lee, J.-F., Mortland, M. M., Chiou, C. T., Kile, D. E., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1990). “Adsorption of benzene, toluene, and xylene by two tetramethylammonium-smectites having different charge densities.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 38, 113–120.
26.
Li, J. ( 1995). “Organobentonite as component of landfill liners to reduce the transport of non-aqueous phase organic liquids.” MS thesis, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
27.
Li, J., Smith, J. A., and Winquist, A. S. ( 1996). “Permeability of earthen liners containing organobentonite to water and two organic liquids.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 30(10), 3089–3093.
28.
Mackintosh, E. E., Lewis, D. G., and Greenland, D. J. ( 1971). “Dodecylammonium-mica complexes. I: Factors affecting the exchange reaction.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 19, 209–219.
29.
Margulies, L., Rozen, H., and Nir, S. ( 1988). “Model for competitive adsorption of organic cations on clays.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 36(3), 270–276.
30.
Mesri, G. ( 1969). “Engineering properties of montmorillonite.” PhD thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.
31.
Mitchell, J. K. ( 1993). Fundamentals of soil behavior, Wiley, New York.
32.
Mortland, M. M. ( 1970). “Clay-organic complexes and interactions.” Advances in Agronomy, 22, 75–117.
33.
Mortland, M. M., Sun, S., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1986). “Clay-organic complexes as adsorbents for phenol and chlorophenols.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 34(5), 581–585.
34.
Narine, D. R., and Guy, R. D. ( 1981). “Interactions of some large organic cations with bentonite in dilute aqueous systems.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 29, 205–212.
35.
Nzengung, V. A., Voudrias, E. A., Nkedi-Kizza, P., Wampler, J. M., and Weaver, C. E. ( 1996). “Organic cosolvent effects on sorption equilibrium of hydrophobic organic chemicals by organoclays.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 30, 89–96.
36.
Olson, R. E. (1974). “Shearing strengths of kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite.”J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 100(11), 1215–1229.
37.
Rutherford, D. W., Chiou, C. T., and Eberl, D. D. ( 1997). “Effects of exchanged cation on the microporosity of montmorillonite.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 45(4), 534–543.
38.
Rytwo, G., Nir, S., and Margulies, L. ( 1995). “Interactions of monovalent organic cations with montmorillonite: Adsorption studies and model calculations.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 59, 554–564.
39.
Sheng, G., Xu, S., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1996). “Mechanism(s) controlling sorption of neutral organic contaminants by surfactant-derived and natural organic matter.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 30(5), 1553–1557.
40.
Smith, J. A., and Galan, A. ( 1995). “Sorption of nonionic organic contaminants to single and dual organic cation bentonites from water.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 29(3), 685–692.
41.
Smith, J. A., Jaffe, P., Chiou, C. T., and Mueller, R. T. ( 1991). “Effects of surfactants on the mobility of nonpolar organic contaminants in porous media.” Organic substances and sediments in water, R. Baker, ed., Lewis, Chelsea, Mich., 201–230.
42.
Smith, J. A., and Jaffe, P. R. ( 1991). “Comparison of tetrachloromethane sorption to an alkylammonium-clay and an alkyldiammonium-clay.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 25(12), 2054–2058.
43.
Smith, J. A., Jaffe, P. R., and Chiou, C. T. ( 1990). “Effect of ten quartenary ammonium cations on tetrachloromethane sorption to clay from water.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 24(8), 1167–1172.
44.
Smith, J. A., Li, J., and Galan, A. ( 1995). “Organobentonites as components of earthen landfill liners to minimize contaminant transport.” Proc., GeoEnvir. 2000, ASCE, New Orleans, 806–814.
45.
Stul, M. S., Maes, A., and Uytterhoeven, J. B. ( 1978). “The adsorption of N-aliphatic alcohols from dilute aqueous solutions on RNH3-montmorillonites. Part I. Distribution at infinte dilution.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 26, 309–317.
46.
Sullivan, E. J., Hunter, D. B., and Bowman, R. S. ( 1997). “Topological and thermal properties of surfactant-modified clinoptilolite studied by tapping mode atomic force microscopy and high-resoltion thermogravimetric analysis.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 45(1), 42–53.
47.
Theng, B. K. G. ( 1974). The chemistry of clay-organic reactions, Wiley, New York.
48.
Wagner, J., Chen, H., Brownawell, B. J., and Westall, J. C. ( 1994). “Use of cationic surfactants to modify soil surfaces to promote sorption and retard migration of hydrophobic organic compounds.” Envir. Sci. and Technol., 28(2), 231–237.
49.
Wolfe, T. A., Demirel, T., and Baumann, E. R. ( 1985). “Interaction of aliphatic amines with montmorillonite to enhance adsorption of organic pollutants.” Clays and Clay Minerals, 33, 301–311.
50.
Xu, S., and Boyd, S. A. ( 1995). “Cationic surfactant adsorption by swelling and nonswelling layer silicates.” Langmuir, 11, 2508–2514.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 127 • Issue 4 • April 2001
Pages: 363 - 370
History
Received: Jul 6, 1999
Published online: Apr 1, 2001
Published in print: Apr 2001
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.