Aggregation of rhodamine 3B adsorbed in Wyoming Montmorillonite aqueous suspensions

The adsorption of Rhodamine 3B (R3B) molecules in Wyoming Montmorillonite (Mont) particles suspended in water was studied by electronic absorption spectroscopy. Several adsorbed R3B species in the Mont tactoids were characterized from the observed changes in the absorption spectra by increasing the relative dye/clay concentration and the stirring time of the samples. R3B molecules can be adsorbed as monomeric units both in the water/clay interface and in the interlayer space, and head-to-tail R3B dimers and trimers were present in the external surface of Mont. The formation of internally adsorbed R3B monomers by the migration of the externally adsorbed species to the interlayer space leads to the deaggregation of the dye molecules in the external surface.