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Mechanically-prepared binary mixtures of two dioctahedral smectites (of different chemical compositions) with two kaolinites (with different amounts of structural defects) were studied by infrared (IR) spectroscopy to verify the ability of IR spectroscopy to detect small amounts of individual components in the mixtures. The same samples were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) in transmission and reflection geometries to compare the sensitivities of these techniques. Infrared spectroscopy is suitable for detecting small amounts of kaolinite in the smectite-rich samples but is not sensitive to small amounts of smectite in kaolinite-rich samples. The IR spectra of kaolinite/ smectite mixtures have a ‘strongly kaolinitic character’ even with only 30% kaolinite. The most characteristic band of kaolinite, near 3695 cm–1, gradually decreased in intensity with decreasing kaolinite content though the presence of this absorption allowed 0.5 mass % of both kaolinites to be detected in their mixtures with smectites. On the other hand, XRD powder techniques are much more adept at detecting low smectite contents in kaolinite-rich samples.

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