Delamination of surfactant intercalated smectites in alcohols: Effect of chain length of the solvent

Cetyl trimethylammonium and stearyl trimethylammonium ion-intercalated montmorillonite delaminates in alcohols. While delamination is observed in all alcohols, the amount of delaminated particles and the stability of the resultant colloidal dispersion increases with the chain length of the alcohol. The organoclay could be easily reassembled from the colloidal dispersions either by evaporation or by the addition of a polar solvent.