Amorphous nanoparticles: the essence of clay

Abstract

Abstract Clay research focuses on phyllosilicate clay minerals such as kaolinite and smectite because these phyllosilicate minerals are considered the most important substance in clay. On the other hand, amorphous nanoparticles are largely ignored because they are thought to be absent in most clay and to have no effect on clay properties. However, a recent study by small angle x-ray scattering has revealed that large amounts of amorphous nanoparticles are present in clay and that these amorphous nanoparticles influence some of the important properties of clay. Another study showed that plasticity, the most important property of clay, is a linear function of the specific surface area. In this study, we have shown that the specific surface area is a linear function of the weight percent of amorphous nanoparticles. Therefore, we can conclude that plasticity is a linear function of the weight percent of amorphous nanoparticles. This indicates that the substance imparting plasticity is not phyllosilicate clay minerals but amorphous nanoparticles, which shows that the essence of clay is amorphous nanoparticles.