Reversible and Irreversible Dehydration of Hydroxy-Interlayered Vermiculite from Coastal Plain Soils

(...) The data suggest that attraction between dehydrated polymers and 2:1-layer surfaces exceeds hydration forces, resulting in irreversible collapse and variable interlayer thickness. Re-entry of H 2 O into interlayers could be sterically impeded by the dehydrated polymers themselves of by their binding effect on layers. The 1.4-nm mineral in the soils studied exibits thermal properties more consistent with HIV than an alternative vermiculite-kaolin intergradient structure.