Thermal deformation thermodynamics of a smectite mineral

A method has been purposed to calculate some of the thermodynamic quantities for the thermal deformation of a smectite without using any basic thermodynamic data. The Hanç?l? (Keskin, Ankara, Turkey) bentonite containing a smectite of 88% by volume was taken as material. Thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) curves of the sample were obtained. Bentonite samples were heated at various temperatures between 25–900°C for the sufficient time (2 h) until to establish the thermal deformation equilibrium.Cation-exchange capacity (CEC) of heated samples was determined by using the methylene blue standard method. The CEC was used as a variable of the equilibrium. An arbitrary equilibrium constant (K _a) was defined similar to chemical equilibrium constant and calculated for each temperature by using the corresponding CEC-value. The arbitrary changes in Gibbs energy (ΔG _a ⁰ ) were calculated from K _a-values. The real change in enthalpy (ΔH ⁰) and entropy (ΔS ⁰) was calculated from the slopes of the lnK vs. 1/T and ΔG vs. T plots, respectively. The real changes in Gibbs energy (ΔG ⁰) and real equilibrium constant (K) were calculated by using the ΔH ⁰ and ΔS ⁰ values. The results at the two different temperature intervals are summarized as below: ΔG ₁ ⁰ =ΔH ₁ ⁰ ?ΔS ₁ ⁰ T=?RTlnK ₁=47000?53t, (200–450°C), and ΔG ₂ ⁰ =ΔH ₂ ⁰ -ΔS ₂ ⁰ T=?RTlnK ₂=132000?164T, (500–800°C).