Engineering Commons^™

Transformation Of 1-Aminonapththalene At The Surface Of Smectite Clays, Calvin C. Ainsworth, Bruce D. Mcveety, Steven C. Smith, John M. Zachara

US Department of Energy Publications

One-aminonaphthalene is sorbed onto the Na-saturated smectite clays, montmorillonite and hectorite, by cation exchange. In the presence of Fe³⁺ either in the clay structure or on the clay surface, sorption is followed by the formation of a blue-colored complex, with the continuous disappearance of aminonaphthalene from solution and the clay surface. The rate of aminonaphthalene disappearance decreases as pH increases. With time, four major products that appear to be structural isomers of N(4- aminonaphthyl)-1-naphthylamine are produced. A simplified model of this transformation is suggested to be the oxidation by Fe³⁺ of sorbed aminonaphthalene forming a radical cation-clay complex. …