Announcements

Minerals (ISSN: 2075-163X) has launched the Section “Clays and Engineered Mineral Materials”. This Section covers various aspects of the mineralogy, geochemistry, and genesis of natural clay materials and other associated industrial minerals, with an additional interest in experimental and theoretical research on the structure, properties, and applications of broadly described natural and engineered layered and nanoporous minerals, including clays, layered double hydroxides (LDHs), zeolites, cementitious phases, and other related mineral materials. The Section focuses on linking together their detailed characterization using various diffraction, scattering, and spectroscopic techniques (X-ray, neutron, NMR, IR, Raman, AFM, etc.), computational multiscale modeling of their properties, and their diverse applications in geological and technological settings, such as mineral weathering, geological disposal of chemical and radioactive wastes, geological carbon sequestration, exploration of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources, catalysis, construction, healthcare products, etc.

We are pleased to present the 2022 Editor’s Choice Articles, a carefully curated list of high-quality articles from “Clays and Engineered Mineral Materials”:

“Characterisation of the Hydration Products of a Chemically and Mechanically Activated High Coal Fly Ash Hybrid Cement”
by Grizelda du Toit, Elizabet M. van der Merwe, Richard A. Kruger, James M. McDonald and Elsabé P. Kearsley
Minerals 2022, 12(2), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12020157
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/2/157

“Fabrication of Hydrotalcite-like Copper Hydroxyl Salts as a Photocatalyst and Adsorbent for Hexavalent Chromium Removal”
by Chitiphon Chuaicham, Karthikeyan Sekar, Vellaichamy Balakumar, Li Zhang, Jirawat Trakulmututa, Siwaporn Meejoo Smith and Keiko Sasaki
Minerals 2022, 12(2), 182; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12020182
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/2/182

“Lime and Cement Plasters from 20th Century Buildings: Raw Materials and Relations between Mineralogical–Petrographic Characteristics and Chemical–Physical Compatibility with the Limestone Substrate”
by Stefano Columbu, Marco Usai, Concetta Rispoli and Dario Fancello
Minerals 2022, 12(2), 226; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12020226
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/2/226

“Preparation and Swelling Inhibition of Mixed Metal Hydroxide to Bentonite Clay”
by Bowen Zhang, Qingchen Wang, Yan Wei, Wei Wei, Weichao Du, Jie Zhang, Gang Chen and Michal Slaný
Minerals 2022, 12(4), 459; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12040459
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/4/459

“Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Cryo-Electron Microscopy Investigation of AOT Surfactant Structure at the Hydrated Mica Surface”
by Daniel M. Long, Jeffery A. Greathouse, Guangping Xu and Katherine L. Jungjohann
Minerals 2022, 12(4), 479; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12040479
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/4/479

“Effect of Structural Fe Reduction on Water Sorption by Swelling and Non-Swelling Clay Minerals”
by Christos Vasilopanagos, Cédric Carteret, Stephen Hillier, Anke Neumann, Harry J. L. Brooksbank and Hugh Christopher Greenwell
Minerals 2022, 12(4), 453; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12040453
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/4/453

“Adsorption of Cs(I) and Sr(II) on Bentonites with Different Compositions at Different pH”
by Yulia Izosimova, Irina Gurova, Inna Tolpeshta, Michail Karpukhin, Sergey Zakusin, Olga Zakusina, Alexey Samburskiy and Victoria Krupskaya
Minerals 2022, 12(7), 862; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12070862
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/7/862

“Evolution of the Reaction and Alteration of Granite with Ordinary Portland Cement Leachates: Sequential Flow Experiments and Reactive Transport Modelling”
by Keith Bateman, Shota Murayama, Yuji Hanamachi, James Wilson, Takamasa Seta, Yuki Amano, Mitsuru Kubota, Yuji Ohuchi and Yukio Tachi
Minerals 2022, 12(7), 883; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12070883
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/7/883

“Prediction of the Adsorption Behaviors of Radionuclides onto Bentonites Using a Machine Learning Method”
by Do-Hyeon Kim and Jun-Yeop Lee
Minerals 2022, 12(10), 1207; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12101207
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/10/1207

“Structural and Elastic Behaviour of Sodalite Na8(Al6Si6O24)Cl2 at High-Pressure by First-Principle Simulations”
by Gianfranco Ulian and Giovanni Valdrè
Minerals 2022, 12(10), 1323; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12101323
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/10/1323

“Alkali-Activated Metakaolins: Mineral Chemistry and Quantitative Mineral Composition”
by Marta Valášková, Zdeněk Klika, Jozef Vlček, Lenka Matějová, Michaela Topinková, Helena Pálková and Jana Madejová
Minerals 2022, 12(11), 1342; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111342
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/11/1342

“Evaluation of Different Dispersants on the Dispersion/Sedimentation Behavior of Halloysite, Kaolinite, and Quartz Suspensions in the Enrichment of Halloysite Ore by Mechanical Dispersion”
by Emrah Durgut, Mustafa Cinar, Mert Terzi, Ilgin Kursun Unver, Yildiz Yildirim and Orhan Ozdemir
Minerals 2022, 12(11), 1426; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111426
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/11/1426

“Magnetic Nanosorbents Based on Bentonite and CoFe2O4 Spinel”
by Nataliya Khodosova, Lyudmila Novikova, Elena Tomina, Larisa Belchinskaya, Alexander Zhabin, Nikolay Kurkin, Victoria Krupskaya, Olga Zakusina, Tatiana Koroleva, Ekaterina Tyupina et al.
Minerals 2022, 12(11), 1474; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111474
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/11/1474

“Impacts of Crystalline Host Rock on Repository Barrier Materials at 250 °C: Hydrothermal Co-Alteration of Wyoming Bentonite and Steel in the Presence of Grimsel Granodiorite”
by Amber Zandanelm, Kirsten B. Sauer, Marlena Rock, Florie A. Caporuscio, Katherine Telfeyan and Edward N. Matteo
Minerals 2022, 12(12), 1556; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12121556
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/12/12/1556

“Advances in Carbon Nanomaterial–Clay Nanocomposites for Diverse Applications”
by Jayanta S. Boruah and Devasish Chowdhury
Minerals 2023, 13(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13010026
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/13/1/26

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the research groups that submitted to Minerals. We would appreciate it if you would circulate this document among your colleagues and network. Furthermore, the following opportunities for collaboration may be of interest:

Submitting a manuscript:
This Section is currently open for submissions. Papers may be submitted via the following link: https://susy.mdpi.com/user/manuscripts/upload?journal=minerals.

Launching a Special Issue:
You have the opportunity to propose hot topics and edit a Special Issue together with experts in the field.

Joining the Editorial Board:
If you are an active researcher in the field of clays and engineered mineral materials and are interested in joining the Editorial Board, please do not hesitate to get in touch (minerals@mdpi.com).

Minerals Editorial Office