biostudies-literatureNanda RU.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Science12755-12765https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9063695biostudies-literatureUnknown9(22)²³Na MAS NMR spectroscopy of the smectite mineral hectorite acquired at temperatures from -120 °C to 40 °C in combination with the results from computational molecular dynamics (MD) simulations show the presence of complex dynamical processes in the interlayer galleries that depend significantly on their hydration state. The results indicate that site exchange occurs within individual interlayers that contain coexisting 1 and 2 water layer hydrates in different places. We suggest that the observed dynamical averaging may be due to motion of water volumes comparable to the dripplons recently proposed to occur in hydrated graphene interlayers (Yoshida <i>et al. Nat. Commun.</i>, 2018, <b>9</b>, 1496). Such motion would cause rippling of the T-O-T structure of the clay layers at frRSC advancesTemperature dependent structure and dynamics in smectite interlayers: ²³Na MAS NMR spectroscopy of Na-hectorite.PMC9063695DE-AC05-76RL01830Nanda RKirkpatrick RJLoganathan NBurton SDBowers GMfalseTemperature dependent structure and dynamics in smectite interlayers: ²³Na MAS NMR spectroscopy of Na-hectorite.²³Na MAS NMR spectroscopy of the smectite mineral hectorite acquired at temperatures from -120 °C to 40 °C in combination with the results from computational molecular dynamics (MD) simulations show the presence of complex dynamical processes in the interlayer galleries that depend significantly on their hydration state. The results indicate that site exchange occurs within individual interlayers that contain coexisting 1 and 2 water layer hydrates in different places. We suggest that the observed dynamical averaging may be due to motion of water volumes comparable to the dripplons recently proposed to occur in hydrated graphene interlayers (Yoshida <i>et al. Nat. Commun.</i>, 2018, <b>9</b>, 1496). Such motion would cause rippling of the T-O-T structure of the clay layers at fr2019-01-01T00:00:00Z2019 Apr2025-04-27T01:04:08.772Z2025-04-06T18:08:26.425ZS-EPMC90636953551584610.1039/c9ra01056d