Thermal stability of octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide modified montmorillonite organoclay

Organoclays are significant for providing a mechanism for the adsorption of organic molecules from potable water. As such their thermal stability is important. A combination of thermogravimetric analysis and infrared emission spectroscopy was used to determine this stability. Infrared emission spectroscopy (IES) was used to investigate the changes in the structure and surface characteristics of water and surfactant molecules in montmorillonite, octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and organoclays prepared with the surfactant octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide with different surfactant loadings. These spectra collected at different temperatures give support to the results obtained from the thermal analysis and also provide additional evidence for the dehydration which is difficult to obtain by normal thermoanalytical techniques. The spectra provide information on the conformation of the surfactant molecules in the clay layers and the thermal decomposition of the organoclays. Infrared emission spectroscopy proved to be a useful tool for the study of the thermal stability of the organoclays.