Evaluation of thermal stability of some organically modified clays

The paper is focused on the influence of some organic modifiers on the thermal stability of clay-organic intercalates. the organic modifiers used were rubber,coal,thermosetting plastic,polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride. melt intercalation procedure was used. modification with organic modifiers was performed at 400 °c. tg-dta study was performed to evaluate the thermal stability of the resultant intercalates. thermal properties were improved significantly in case of organically modified clay samples. among the modifiers used,poly styrene proved very effective in case of crude clay while in case of pre baked clay,intercalation with rubber caused significant improvement in thermal stability. thus,such intercalations are suggested to be effective if the clays under study are to be used at elevated temperature.