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Sepiolite
Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum (/ˈmɪərʃɔːm/ MEER-shawm, /-ʃəm/ -shəm; German: [ˈmeːɐ̯ʃaʊm] ⓘ; meaning "sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for which is Mg4Si6O15(OH)2·6H2O, it can be present in fibrous, fine-particulate, and solid forms.
The fibrous clay minerals have recently been shown to exist as a continuous polysomatic series where the endmembers are sepiolite and palygorskite. There is a continuous variation in chemical composition from sepiolite, the most magnesic and trioctahedral endmember, to palygorskite, the least magnesic, most Al- and Fe-bearing, most dioctahedral endmember.
Originally named meerschaum by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1788, it was named sepiolite by Ernst Friedrich Glocker in 1847 for an occurrence in Bettolino, Baldissero Canavese, Torino Province, Piedmont, Italy. The name comes from Greek sepion (σήπιον), meaning "cuttlebone" (the porous internal shell of the cuttlefish), + lithos (λίθος), meaning stone, after a perceived resemblance of this mineral to cuttlebone. Because of its low relative density and its high porosity, it may float upon water, hence its German name. It is sometimes found floating on the Black Sea and rather suggestive of sea-foam, hence the German origin of the name as well as the French name for the same substance, écume de mer.
Sepiolite is opaque and off-white, grey or cream colour, breaking with a conchoidal or fine earthy fracture, and occasionally fibrous in texture. Due to the fact it can be readily scratched with the finger nail, its hardness is ranked at about 2 on the Mohs scale. The specific gravity varies from 0.988 to 1.279, but the porosity of the mineral may lead to error. Sepiolite is a hydrous magnesium silicate having the chemical formula Mg4Si6O15(OH)2·6H2O.
Sepiolite can be identified in hand specimen by applying a drop of a saturated solution of methyl orange on the sample. A positive test result for sepiolite turns purple. This can distinguish calcite from sepiolite in the field: sepiolite reacts to change the methyl orange to a shade of purple where calcite remains orange.
When first extracted, sepiolite is soft. However, it hardens on exposure to sun heat or when dried in a warm room. Sepiolite can be distinguished from silica or calcite-cemented material by slaking: calcite-cemented material slakes in acid, and silica-cemented material slakes in alkali or alternating acid/alkali. Sepiolite-cemented material has been termed "sepiocrete" as calcrete, silcrete or ferricrete is used to refer to materials cemented by calcite, silica or iron . Soils that contain significant quantities of sepiolite may be more appropriately termed "sepiolitic" or "petrosepiolitic" depending on the degree of cementation.
Stabilization of nanosepiolite suspensions was improved using mechanical dispersion and bio-based and synthetic polyelectrolytes. Surface energy and nanoroughness were studied in two sepiolite samples.
From the perspective of its use as an absorbent, the main producing country is Spain. The Spanish deposits represent about half of the world's reserves of this mineral. The most important deposits, currently being exploited, are located in the provinces of Madrid, Toledo, and Zaragoza provinces. The best-known deposits of the material used in the manufacture of pipes and decorative objects (meerschaum) is obtained chiefly from the plain of Eskişehir in Turkey, between Istanbul and Ankara. It occurs there in irregular nodular masses, in alluvial deposits, which are extensively worked for its extraction. It is said that in this district, there are 4000 shafts leading to horizontal galleries for extraction of the sepiolite. The principal workings are at Sepetçi Ocağı and Kemikçi Ocağı, about 20 miles southeast of Eskişehir. The mineral is associated with magnesite (magnesium carbonate), the primitive source of both minerals being a serpentine.
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Sepiolite
Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum (/ˈmɪərʃɔːm/ MEER-shawm, /-ʃəm/ -shəm; German: [ˈmeːɐ̯ʃaʊm] ⓘ; meaning "sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for which is Mg4Si6O15(OH)2·6H2O, it can be present in fibrous, fine-particulate, and solid forms.
The fibrous clay minerals have recently been shown to exist as a continuous polysomatic series where the endmembers are sepiolite and palygorskite. There is a continuous variation in chemical composition from sepiolite, the most magnesic and trioctahedral endmember, to palygorskite, the least magnesic, most Al- and Fe-bearing, most dioctahedral endmember.
Originally named meerschaum by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1788, it was named sepiolite by Ernst Friedrich Glocker in 1847 for an occurrence in Bettolino, Baldissero Canavese, Torino Province, Piedmont, Italy. The name comes from Greek sepion (σήπιον), meaning "cuttlebone" (the porous internal shell of the cuttlefish), + lithos (λίθος), meaning stone, after a perceived resemblance of this mineral to cuttlebone. Because of its low relative density and its high porosity, it may float upon water, hence its German name. It is sometimes found floating on the Black Sea and rather suggestive of sea-foam, hence the German origin of the name as well as the French name for the same substance, écume de mer.
Sepiolite is opaque and off-white, grey or cream colour, breaking with a conchoidal or fine earthy fracture, and occasionally fibrous in texture. Due to the fact it can be readily scratched with the finger nail, its hardness is ranked at about 2 on the Mohs scale. The specific gravity varies from 0.988 to 1.279, but the porosity of the mineral may lead to error. Sepiolite is a hydrous magnesium silicate having the chemical formula Mg4Si6O15(OH)2·6H2O.
Sepiolite can be identified in hand specimen by applying a drop of a saturated solution of methyl orange on the sample. A positive test result for sepiolite turns purple. This can distinguish calcite from sepiolite in the field: sepiolite reacts to change the methyl orange to a shade of purple where calcite remains orange.
When first extracted, sepiolite is soft. However, it hardens on exposure to sun heat or when dried in a warm room. Sepiolite can be distinguished from silica or calcite-cemented material by slaking: calcite-cemented material slakes in acid, and silica-cemented material slakes in alkali or alternating acid/alkali. Sepiolite-cemented material has been termed "sepiocrete" as calcrete, silcrete or ferricrete is used to refer to materials cemented by calcite, silica or iron . Soils that contain significant quantities of sepiolite may be more appropriately termed "sepiolitic" or "petrosepiolitic" depending on the degree of cementation.
Stabilization of nanosepiolite suspensions was improved using mechanical dispersion and bio-based and synthetic polyelectrolytes. Surface energy and nanoroughness were studied in two sepiolite samples.
From the perspective of its use as an absorbent, the main producing country is Spain. The Spanish deposits represent about half of the world's reserves of this mineral. The most important deposits, currently being exploited, are located in the provinces of Madrid, Toledo, and Zaragoza provinces. The best-known deposits of the material used in the manufacture of pipes and decorative objects (meerschaum) is obtained chiefly from the plain of Eskişehir in Turkey, between Istanbul and Ankara. It occurs there in irregular nodular masses, in alluvial deposits, which are extensively worked for its extraction. It is said that in this district, there are 4000 shafts leading to horizontal galleries for extraction of the sepiolite. The principal workings are at Sepetçi Ocağı and Kemikçi Ocağı, about 20 miles southeast of Eskişehir. The mineral is associated with magnesite (magnesium carbonate), the primitive source of both minerals being a serpentine.
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