Dear Ali,

You need XRD analysis to detect clay minerals. Semiquantitative data and XRD graphs are recommended.

Cheers,

Rahim

@rahim masoumi

Could you please explain more

Dear Ali,

Hope you are doing well.

In order to obtain mineralogical composition of your samples, you should analyze your samples using XRD method. You can do that in different laboratories inside the country. The results of XRD analyses will give you several graphs which should be interpreted. Usually, the technician of Lab interpret graphs and send you the mineralogical composition of the samples. Sometimes they give you semiquantitative values which show the percentage of each mineral in the sample. For example the content of Kaolinite can be 50% in a sample.

Actually you need new analyses in addition to previous XRF data.

Regards,

Rahim

One cannot get very much from chemical analyses alone, orientatively the Al:Si ratio equals 1 for kandites (kaolinite) > illite > smectites (montmorillonite). Illite typically contains K, while smectites contain Na and Ca. For reliable diagnostic purposes, as suggested above, XRD is the recommended method, using bulk and treated (heated, glycolated) material. I hope the attached file might help.

It is in many cases wasted time and money, particularly when the composition is very complex. For clay minerals their are many methods which allow for a qualitative and even quantitative approach, successfully run in combination with each other. For examples chlorite- and kaolinie-group minerals may difficult to distinguish from each other and spectrocopic methods may be helpful. SEM may give you an insight into tubular, fibrous and platy phyllosilicate modifications-You can deduce form this analysis that it is not wise to use a chemical method which is not designed for the solution of mineralogical issues. Try and find somebody who has experience in one or the other of these mineralogical methods rather than run into trouble by using a method unappropriate like XRF.

With kind regards

H.G.Dill

I have the XRD and XRF output data (attached below) and I want to obtain the amount (%) of each clay type from them. how it will be obtain? is there any software or cross plot?

@Harald G. Dill Rahim Masoumi Gavril Săbău

Dear Ali,

I have not done this calculations till now but I think there is a way to do it. When I want to obtain the mineralogical quantitative data, I ask from the technician of the Lab to give me quantitative data in addition to qualitative descriptions.

Wish you the bests,

Rahim

Dear Rahim

You're right. Usually the lab give the quantitative data but our experiments done in the past and only the qualitative data is given by the lab and there isnt access to the lab yet. So im searching for a methode to obtain the clay composition and type from these data.@Rahim masoumi