ORGANOPHILIZATION AND SILANIZATION OF BENTONITE CLAY

Clays have been used in several technological areas. One of the most usual applications is their incorporation into organic materials. Nonetheless, natural clays are hydrophobic being incompatible with organic medium. Clay organophilization can be reached by several methods such as by exchange of the interlayer sodium cations by organic cations, and by silanization of the clay layers. In this study the bentonite clay was organophilized by the addition of the methoxymethyltriphenylphosphonium chloride (CTFF). Further, the organoclay was silanized with (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (GPTMS). X-ray fluorescence results, infrared and XPS spectroscopy showed the presence of phosphorus in the organophilic clay. The interlayer space, obtained by X-ray diffraction, increased in 55% after the CTFF addition showing the cationic exchange in the clay lamellar region. After the silanization of the organoclay the interlayer space was slightly reduced from 1,78 nm to 1,72 nm, indicating that the silane molecules were preferential bound in the clay edges.