A comparative study performance of cationic organic montmorillonite prepared by different methods

In this paper, cationic organic montmorillonites (OMts) were prepared by dry, semi-dry, and wet methods. The structures and properties of these OMts according to the modification methods were studied. By the characterization of XRD, TG-DTA, lipophilicity, and thixotropy, the results showed that cationic OMt prepared by wet method with sufficient surfactants had better properties, including contact angle, swelling capacity, thixotropic loop area, and thermal stability compared with cationic OMt prepared by dry and semi-dry methods. Attention should be paid that with low ratio amount of surfactants used, cationic OMt prepared by the semi-dry method had favorable properties compared with cationic OMt prepared by wet method, and it had the potential to be applied in industrial field due to its environment-friendly and modification efficiency characteristics.