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Electrophoresis of Clays by the Schlieren Moving Boundary Procedure¹

ABSTRACT

Electrophoresis, as analyzed by the schlieren moving boundary system, has been used as a method for the study of the clay minerals. By the use of suitable buffers and standardized procedure for preparation, clay suspensions of sufficient concentration but of low opacity were prepared. Sodium veronal was found to be an effective dispersing agent for the hydrous mica-like clays (Putnam and Cisne) and versenate and phosphate for the bentonite (montmorillonite) clays. It was found necessary to use the hydrogen clays dispersed in the appropriate buffer. Repeated attempts using the sodium clays gave suspensions unsuitable for electrophoretic analysis.

The Putnam and Cisne subsoil clays were found to be either electrophoretically homogeneous or almost so in each of several buffer systems used, whereas the bentonite clays were found to be very heterogeneous. Artificial mixtures of the subsoil clays and the bentonite clays indicated that they could be separated electrophoretically since the subsoil clays possess mobilities slower than any of the bentonite components.

Ultracentrifugal analysis of the Putnam clay indicated the presence of two major components. Since these did not show up on the electrophoretic patterns, it would seem to indicate that the electrophoretic entities are not due to differences in particle size.

The pH and buffer concentrations were found not to materially affect the mobility of the clay systems.

It would appear that further study of the electrophoretic properties of clays by the schlieren moving boundary system is warranted.

¹ Contribution from the Departments of Agronomy and Dairy Science, University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill. Presented before Division II, Soil Science Society of America, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 20, 1952.

² Assistant Professor of Soil Physics and Instructor of Dairy Biological Chemistry, respectively.

Received for publication December 16, 1952.