Evolution of AC conductivity of wet illitic clay during drying

Abstract

The evolution of the AC electrical conductivity during drying as well as the relationship between sample volume and moisture of green illite samples were investigated. The samples were prepared from illitic clay (80 mass % illite, 4 mass % montmorillonite, 12 mass % quartz and 4 mass % of orthoclase) and distilled water with initial moisture content 36 mass % and were freely dried in air. Conductivity was measured by the volt-ampere method with AC power supply of 5 V in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 10 kHz. The AC conductivity steeply increased with increasing moisture, up to 15 mass %. At higher values of the moisture, the AC conductivity was high and almost constant. The volume of samples increased with increasing moisture when the moisture was higher than 8 mass %. Below this value, the dimensions of samples do not significantly change. The dependence of the relative volume change on moisture is presented in a form of the Bigot's curve.