Henkel Ag & Company, Kgaa

Byk-chemie Gmbh

Andreas Edenharter

Josef Breu

Hans-Georg Kinzelmann

Ligang Zhao

Hanns Misiak

Sonja Amschler

Matthias Daab

Lina Mayr

Daniela Neitzke

Christina Huebner

The invention relates to a method for preparing an at least partially exfoliated clay. The present invention further relates to an at least partially exfoliated clay obtainable by such a method and to a suspension comprising such a clay, as well to the use of such an at least partially exfoliated clay and of a suspension comprising such an at least partially exfoliated clay. Furthermore, the present invention is also directed to a polymeric composition comprising an at least partially exfoliated clay and/or a suspension comprising an at least partially exfoliated clay.

Method for preparing an at least partially exfoliated clay

The invention relates to a process for delamination of a layered silicate in an aqueous medium, wherein in a first step a layered silicate is treated with a delamination agent, and in a second step the thus treated layered silicate is contacted with an aqueous medium, whereby the delamination agent is a compound having exactly one positively charged atom, the positively charged atom being selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and phosphorous; contains nfunctional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl groups, ether groups, sulfonic acid ester groups and carboxylic acid ester groups, nbeing a number from 3 to 10; comprises a total number of carbon atoms nbeing from 4 to 12; has a ratio n/(1+n) from 1 to 2, wherein nis the total number of carbon atoms of the delamination agent and nis the total number of functional groups in the delamination agent as defined under ii.; contains natoms selected from the group consisting of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, oxygen and sulfur, nbeing ≥9; and wherein the delamination agent is used to treat the layered silicate in an amount of at least equal to the cation exchange capacity of the layered silicate. The invention further relates to the thus produced delaminated layered silicates, their use in the production of composite and coating material and as a barrier material. Moreover, the invention relates to compositions containing the thus produced delaminated layered silicates.

Process for delamination of layered silicates

The invention relates to a method for preparing a hydrophobically modified clay, wherein the clay modifying agent corresponds to a quaternary ammonium based compound. The present invention further relates to a hydrophobically modified clay obtainable by such a method and to a suspension comprising such a clay, as well to the use of such a hydrophobically modified clay and of a suspension comprising such a hydrophobically modified clay. Furthermore, the present invention is also directed to a polymeric composition comprising a hydrophobically modified clay and/or a suspension comprising a hydrophobically modified clay.

Method for preparing a hydrophobically modified clay

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Bayreuth, Germany

Andreas Edenharter