Montmorillonite Bentonite Clay (Al2O34SiO2H2O, Purity: 99.9%, 8-10µm)

Montmorillonite Bentonite Clay

Bentonite Clays find wide industrial application in drilling fluid, foundry bonds, palletizing iron ore, etc. Montmorillonite, a mineral from the smectite group, is the dominant component of bentonite, and affects the whole properties and applications of bentonite; therefore, instrumental analyses are the best methods employed to characterize these properties and applications. Some of the important analyses used broadly in the literature are Infra-red (IR) spectroscopy, and BET Specific Surface Area and BJH Pore Size Distribution Analysis methods. Usually, a combination of several instrumental analyses is used to identify the characteristics of the specified bentonite for specific applications. Transmission spectroscopy like FTIR (Fourier Transmission Infra Red) spectroscopy is the most commonly used method in studying bentonites. It is a useful method to find out the structure, bonding, and chemical properties of clay minerals and it has an analytically successful history. The BET gas adsorption theory is the foundation for the measurement of surface area in high specific surface materials and it is remarkable that the BET method give a higher specific surface area for the finely grained sample than that of the coarse sample. By BET method, the external surface can only be measured because of the limitation in N2 adsorption. Pore size and pore size distributions are necessary if the material is to be fully characterized. The BJH method was used to determine the distribution of mesopores. This method uses the N2 desorption branch of the isotherm and relates the amount of adsorbate desorbed to the average size of pores affected by this desorption.