Abstract
Four smectites with different total Fe contents (two nontronites, one ferruginous smectite, and one montmorillonite) were reduced to obtain a range of Fe(II)/Fe(III) ratios and their magnetic properties measured with a SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) as a function of applied magnetic field strength at 5 K and as a function of temperature in a field of 0.1 T. The unaltered nontronite and ferruginous smectite specimens showed antiferromagnetic coupling, whereas the coupling in the reduced samples was ferromagnetic; the paramagnetic Curie temperature increased with increasing Fe(II) content. Data collected after cooling samples in both the presence and absence of an external magnetic field of 0.1 T showed that at low temperatures the reduced (ferromagnetic) nontronite and ferruginous smectite samples exhibit a memory effect of previous magnetic field exposure consistent with superparamagnetic or spin glass behavior. The superparamagnetic/ferromagnetic transition temperature, T f , increased linearly with increasing Fe(II) content for each of the nontronites, but the relationship between T f and Fe(II) content differed for different clays, thus demonstrating that T f is sensitive to isomorphous substitutions in the clay structure. The montmorillonite was paramagnetic in both oxidized and reduced forms.
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Received: 23 March 1999 / Revised, accepted: 27 August 1999
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Schuette, R., Goodman, B. & Stucki, J. Magnetic properties of oxidized and reduced smectites. Phys Chem Min 27, 251–257 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002690050254
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002690050254