Electron microscopy of sodium montmorillonite

Abstract

The two-dimensional structure of montmorillonite has been illustrated by electron micrographs of the face view of the plates1-3. We report what we believe to be the first micrograph to be published of the edge view of the unit layers of montmorillonite. In Fig. 1 the plates appear to be supported at an angle to the supporting film; the dark parallel lines, which are 10 ± 2 , are the unit layers of montmorillonite. This is in agreement with X-ray data which give the unit layer thickness as approximately 10 . It is interesting to note that the lines appear in groups of three or four. © 1969 Nature Publishing Group.