Changes in the morphology of organoclays with HDTMA+ surfactant loading

The detailed understanding of the interlayer structure of organoclays is of importance in the design of organoclay based materials and their industrial applications. In this study, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used to provide new insights into the interlayer structure and morphology of HDTMA+/montmorillonite organoclays. XRD patterns show that thermal treatment has an important effect on the stability of organoclays, reflected by significant changes in the basal spacing. TEM and SEM micrographs demonstrate that the organoclays with lower surfactant packing density are mainly composed of irregular layer stacking with a number of curved organoclay layers, while those with higher surfactant packing density are mainly composed of regularly intercalated and flat layers. Variations of the interlayer distances exist in all organoclays and are more pronounced in the organoclays with lower surfactant packing density. This study demonstrates that not only the arrangement model of surfactant but also the morphology of organoclay strongly depend on the surfactant packing density within the montmorillonite interlayer space.