A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Eight Methods for the Removal of Organic Matter from Clay

Abstract
Organic matter present in clayey sediments may act as a cement between the clay particles as well as a blocking agent for the swelling of clay minerals like montmorillonite.Removal of the organic matter is important when a clay sample is to be characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, or when it is to be separated into the composing minerals on the basis of differences in density.Eight different methods for the removal of organic matter from a North Sea clay sample have been studied. Of all methods tried bromine oxidation was found to be the most effective.