I have seen a number of formulas for calculating the CEC of clay but I am a little bit confused on the accurate one to use.
Dear Vincent
Check the next link, It is a complete review of CEC influence on Sandy and Clay use.
http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/C/Amy.B.Cerato-1/CeratoMSThesis.pdf
Or maybe , explain me what are your particular question.
What exactly do you mean? Do you want to calculate CEC based on various soil properties known to affect CEC? (e.g., org. matter, clay content, oxides content etc.?). And why not measure it directly in the laboratory?
I actually want to get the CEC of clay from the already determined CEC of soil. I need this information to classify some soils
Hi, first you need to know % of clay in the soil, then what types of clays were there: kaolinite, smectites, chlorite and their %. Why not separate clay(s) from your soil and determine CEC of that fraction.
Dear Mr. Azuka,
I guess you want to study and determine the content of smectite group minerals:
Here are three basic studies:
Kaufhold, S., Dohrmann, R., Ufer, K., Meyer, F.M., 2002. Comparison of methods
for the quantification of montmorillonite in bentonites. – Applied Clay Science 22, p. 145 – 151
Kaufhold, S., Dohrmann, R., 2003. Beyond the Methylene Blue method:
determination of the smectite content using the Cu-trien method. – Zeitschrift für
angewandte Geologie
Meier L.P., Kahr G., 1999. Determination of the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of
clay minerals using the complexes of Copper (II) ion with triethylenetetramine and
tretraethylenepentamine. - Clays and Clay Minerals, 47, 386–388.
We used it in many ways and studies and it worked perfectly well.
Good luck !
Harald G. Dill
Various clay components will contribute different amounts of CEC to the overall sample, so as Nguyen mentioned, you should determine the clay % of the sample. The hydrometer method is simple. Also, knowing the rock type (ie. parent material) of the sample will help to determine the exact clay minerals present. You could also separate the clay fraction from the sample and have them analyzed separately if you have that capability.
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