Preparation and Characterization of Organophilic Montmorillonite

In order to improve the compatibility between montmorillonite(MMT) and the organic phases, organophilic montmorillonites were synthesized, and changes in the layer structure of MMT before and after the intermixing investigated. A series of organophilic MMT were prepared from sodium type MMT by cation exchange with alkylammonium onium ions, alkylamine and mixed reagents, and characterized by FTIR, XRD and TEM etc. The FTIR spectrogram showed that the organic reagents had intercalated into the layers of MMT. Spacing of layers of MMT was detected using X ray diffractometer and was observed to have increased from nm to 1 7-4 2 nm. TEM photographs suggested that the spacing of layers has increased and the thickness of layers reached about 50 nm. Thus organophilic MMT with large spacing of layers can be prepared starting with MMT having high exchange capacibility and suitable reagents to intercalate.