Influence of the layer charge and clay particle size on the interactions between the cationic dye methylene blue and clays in an aqueous suspension.

The spectroscopic behavior of the dye MB in suspensions of different clays have been used for evaluating layer charge density influence on the adsorption properties of the particles. The clays with higher charge density, like SAz-1 and SCa-3, promote a higher aggregation and do not show deaggregation at longer times, so that practically only the aggregate peak at approximately 570 nm is observed, without any change with time. This is due to, on one side, the larger particle size that decreases the surface area available for adsorption.