Preparation and dispersive behaviors of reduced charge smectite

A series of reduced charge smectites (RCS) with gradually decreasing cation exchange capacity (CEC) were prepared by controlling the amount of Li used to saturate SAz-1 to study the dispersive characteristics of RCS in water and provide insight into the influence of the layer charge density on delamination of smectite in water. Results indicated that being well deliminated in water, high-CEC smectie suspension resulted in small flocs with fluffy structure after coagulation presumably due to a more porous type of coagulation with intense face-to-edge and edge-to-edge interactions of platelets. High-CEC smectie also resulted in suspension with higher viscosity due to the presence of larger number of particles and secondary electroviscous effect. Finally, this study demonstrated the possibility of tailor-made smectite suspensions with suitable dispersive properties for particular applications.