Investigations of Latvian Illite/Kaolinite Clays Irradiated Under Action of Accelerated Electrons

Natural clay is a perspective material for application as sorbents for wastewater treatment as well as for sorption of radionuclides, where the properties of the clays can be changed under influence of ionizing radiation. For application of Latvian illite/kaolinite clays for isotope sorption it is important to characterize the physic-chemical properties of pre-prepared air dried clays. Two fractions of the illite clays were selected. A fraction with grain size 100 μm (SiO2 content 60.9 ± 1.5 wt.%, specific surface area 35 m2/g) and a sand free fraction – 2 μm (SiO2 47.7 ± 1.9 wt.%, specific surface area 38 m2/g). Selected fractions were irradiated with accelerated electrons (5 MeV, ELU-4, Salaspils, absorbed dose up to 500 kGy). Non-irradiated and irradiated clays were analysed with means of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry.