Two types of adsorbed water in natural montmorillonites at low temperatures by dielectric spectroscopy

Dielectric spectroscopy was applied to natural clay mineral - montmorillonite with the exchangeable K+ and Ni2+ cations where the effect of water adsorption in the samples on the dielectric response was examined in the temperature from -115°C to -75°C and frequency from 1 Hz to 1 MHz ranges. Two relaxation processes (1 and 2) were revealed. The process 1 was related to the adsorbed ordered water structures formed on the interior surface of interlayer channels while the relaxation process 2 was attributed to the disordered water structures built between two surface water monolayers.