Characterization of interlayer Cs+ in clay samples using secondary ion mass spectrometry with laser sample modification

Ultraviolet laser irradiation was used to greatly enhance the secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) detection of Cs+ adsorbed to soil consisting of clay and quartz. Imaging SIMS showed that the enhancement of the Cs+ signal was spatially heterogeneous: the intensity of the Cs+ peak was increased by factors up to 100 for some particles but not at all for others. Analysis of standard clay samples exposed to Cs+ showed a variable response to laser irradiation depending on the type of clay analyzed. The Cs+ abundance was significantly enhanced when Cs+-exposed montmorillonite was irradiated and then analyzed using SIMS, which contrasted with the behavior of Cs+-exposed kaolinite, which displayed no Cs+ enhancement. Exposed illitic clays displayed modest enhancement of Cs+ upon laser irradiation, intermediate between that of kaolinite and montmorillonite. The results for Cs+ were rationalized in terms of adsorption to interlayer sites within the montmorillonite, which is an expandable phyllosilicate. In these locations, Cs+ was not initially detectable using SIMS. Upon irradiation, Cs+ was thermally redistributed, which enabled detection using SIMS. Since neither the illite nor the kaolinite is an expandable clay, adsorption to inner-layer sites does not occur, and either modest or no laser enhancement of the Cs+ signal is observed. Laser irradiation also produced unexpected enhancement of TV from illite and kaolinite clays that contained small quantities of Ti, which indicates the presence of microscopic titanium oxide phases in the clay materials.