Bentonite was purified using a dispersion-sedimentation method for the preparation of organically modified clays toward the possible optimization of their material performance as rheology controlling reagents. It was possible to classify bentonite into fractions of purified montmorillonite from aqueous suspension. Organic modification with dimethyldioctadecylammonium chloride was done by a conventional ion exchange procedure applied for aqueous suspension of the purified bentonite, which was prepared by alteration of raw bentonite by the addition of sodium carbonate and subsequent jet milling. Organic modification of the raw bentonite without the pretreatment using jet milling was also done for comparison. This careful pretreatment followed by the ion exchange with dimethyldioctadecylammonium ion resulted in organophilic clay with improved viscosity and transparency of the suspension in toluene compared with those observed for dimethyldioctadecylammonium-bentonite prepared without the present jet-milling process. Moreover, the modified organophilic clay showed unique temperature dependent variation of viscosity, which is very important for practical application. The present jet-milling process is useful for other applications of organophilic clays and to the pretreatment of different materials.
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