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The influence of alkyl chain length on surfactant distribution within organo-montmorillonites and their thermal stability

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Abstract

Organically modified clay minerals with high thermal stability are critical for synthesis and processing of clay-based nanocomposites. Two series of organo-montmorillonites have been synthesized using surfactants with different alkyl chain length. The organo-montmorillonites were characterized by X-ray diffraction and differential thermogravimetry, combining with molecule modelling. For surfactant with relatively short alkyl chain, the resultant organo-montmorillonite displays a small maximum basal spacing (ca. 1.5 nm) and most surfactants intercalate into montmorillonite interlayer spaces as cations with a small amount of surfactant molecules loaded in the interparticle pores with “house-of-cards” structure. However, for surfactant with relatively long alkyl chain, the resultant organo-montmorillonite displays a large maximum basal spacing (ca. 4.1 nm) and the loaded surfactants exist in three formats: intercalated surfactant cations, intercalated surfactant molecules (ionic pairs), and surfactant molecules in interparticle pores. The surfactant molecules (ionic pairs) in interparticle pores and interlayer spaces will be evaporated around the evaporation temperature of the neat surfactant while the intercalated surfactant cations will be evaporated/decomposed at higher temperature.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-EW-QN101), the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (Grant No. 40725006), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U0933003, 40972034). This is contribution No. IS-1351 from GIGCAS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, People’s Republic of China

    Jianxi Zhu, Wei Shen, Lingya Ma, Qing Zhou, Peng Yuan, Dong Liu & Hongping He

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Shen, Lingya Ma & Qing Zhou

  3. Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, People’s Republic of China

    Yuehong Ma

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  1. Jianxi Zhu
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  2. Wei Shen
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  3. Yuehong Ma
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  4. Lingya Ma
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  5. Qing Zhou
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  7. Dong Liu
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Correspondence to Jianxi Zhu.

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Zhu, J., Shen, W., Ma, Y. et al. The influence of alkyl chain length on surfactant distribution within organo-montmorillonites and their thermal stability. J Therm Anal Calorim 109, 301–309 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1761-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1761-9

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