Organoclay for solvent-based coatings

Organoclay for solvent – based coatings is produced through specific processing methods to meet the demands of these coating systems.

One common method is the wet process: bentonite powder is dispersed into a slurry, then purified and modified. Long carbon chains are used to replace the interlayer cations, expanding the interlayer spacing (d001 value: 1.7 – 3.0 nm) to form hydrophobic organoclay. The product is obtained after filtration, dehydration, drying, grinding, and sieving.

Another method is the dry process, which directly involves mixing selected moist sodium – based bentonite (with 20% – 30% water content, and calcium – based bentonite can also be used) with organic surfactants, followed by heating, extrusion, then drying, grinding, and packaging.

Alternatively, the extruded water – containing organoclay can be directly mixed with organic solvents, making it suitable for solvent – based coating applications.