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BENTONITE

CAS NUMBER: 1302-78-9

EC NUMBER: 215-108-5


 is a highly absorbent, viscous plastic clay which is a valuable binding, sealing, absorbing and lubricating agent in a huge variety of industries and applications.
Bentonite is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. 
Bentonite usually forms from weathering of volcanic ash in seawater, which converts the volcanic glass present in the ash to clay minerals. 
Bentonite beds are white or pale blue or green in fresh exposures, turning to a cream color and then yellow, red, or brown as the exposure is weathered further.
As a swelling clay, bentonite has the ability to absorb large quantities of water, which increases its volume by up to a factor of eight.
This makes bentonite beds unsuitable for building and road construction. 
However, the swelling property is used to advantage in drilling mud and groundwater sealants. 
The montmorillonite making up bentonite is an aluminium phyllosilicate mineral, which takes the form of microscopic platy grains. 
These give the clay a very large total surface area, making bentonite a valuable adsorbent. 
The plates also adhere to each other when wet. 
This gives the clay a cohesiveness that makes it useful as a binder and as an additive to improve the plasticity of kaolinite clay used for pottery.
One of the first findings of bentonite was in the Cretaceous Benton Shale near Rock River, Wyoming. 
The Fort Benton Group, along with others in stratigraphic succession, was named after Fort Benton, Montana, in the mid-19th century by Fielding Bradford Meek and F. V. Hayden of the U.S. Geological Survey.[3] Bentonite has since been found in many other locations, including China and Greece. Total worldwide production of bentonite in 2018 was 20,400,000 metric tons.
In geology, the term bentonite is applied to a type of claystone composed mostly of montmorillonite. 

Bentonite forms by devitrification of volcanic ash or tuff, typically in a marine environment. 
This results in a very soft, porous rock that may contain residual crystals of more resistant minerals, and which feels soapy or greasy to the touch. 
However, in commerce, the term bentonite is used more generally to refer to any swelling clay composed mostly of smectite clay minerals.
The montmorillonite making up bentonite is an aluminium phyllosilicate mineral whose crystal structure is described as low-charge TOT. 
This means that a crystal of montmorillonite consists of layers, each of which is made up of two sheets bonded to either side of an O sheet. 

Bentonites are so called because each aluminium or silicon ion in the sheet is surrounded by four oxygen ions arranged as a tetrahedron. 
The O sheets are so called because each aluminium ion is surrounded by six oxygen or hydroxyl ions arranged as an octahedron. 
The complete TOT layer has a weak negative electrical charge, and this is neutralized by calcium or sodium cations that bind adjacent layers together, with a distance between layers of about 1 nanometer. Because the negative charge is weak, only a fraction of the possible cation sites on the surface of a TOT layer actually contain calcium or sodium. Water molecules can easily infiltrate between sheets and fill the remaining sites. This accounts for the swelling property of montmorillonite and other smectite clay minerals.
The different types of bentonite are each named after the respective dominant cation. 
For industrial purposes, two main classes of bentonite are recognized: sodium and  Bentonite. 
Sodium bentonite is the more valuable but  Bentonite is more common. 
In stratigraphy and tephrochronology, completely devitrified (weathered volcanic glass) ash-fall beds are commonly referred to as K-bentonites when the dominant clay species is illite.

Bentonite expands when wet, absorbing as much as several times its dry mass in water. 
Because of its excellent colloidal properties, it is often used in drilling mud for oil and gas wells and boreholes for geotechnical and environmental investigations.
The property of swelling also makes sodium bentonite useful as a sealant, since it provides a self-sealing, low permeability barrier. 
Bentonite is used to line the base of landfills, for example. Bentonite is also part of the backfill material used at the Waste Isolation Pilot Project. 
Various surface modifications to sodium bentonite improve some rheological or sealing performance in geoenvironmental applications, for example, the addition of polymers.
Bentonite is a useful adsorbent of ions in solution, as well as fats and oils.
Bentonite is the main active ingredient of fuller's earth, probably one of the earliest industrial cleaning agents.

Bentonite may be converted to sodium bentonite (termed sodium beneficiation or sodium activation) to exhibit many of sodium bentonite's properties by an ion exchange process. 
As commonly practiced, this means adding 5–10% of a soluble sodium salt such as sodium carbonate to wet bentonite, mixing well, and allowing time for the ion exchange to take place and water to remove the exchanged calcium.
Some properties, such as viscosity and fluid loss of suspensions, of sodium-beneficiated  Bentonite (or sodium-activated bentonite) may not be fully equivalent to those of natural sodium bentonite.
For example, residual calcium carbonates (formed if exchanged cations are insufficiently removed) may result in inferior performance of the bentonite in geosynthetic liners.
Sodium bentonite can be combined with sulfur as fertilizer prills. 
These permit slow oxidation of the sulfur to sulfate, an important plant nutrient, and maintain sulfate levels in rainfall-leached soil longer than either pure powdered sulfur or gypsum.
Sulfur/bentonite pads with added organic fertilizers have been used for organic farming.

Bentonite slurry walls (also known as diaphragm walls) are used in construction, where the slurry wall is a trench filled with a thick colloidal mixture of bentonite and water.
A trench that would collapse due to the hydraulic pressure in the surrounding soil does not collapse as the slurry balances the hydraulic pressure. 
Forms for concrete, and rebar, can be assembled in a slurry-filled trench, and then have concrete poured into the form. 
The liquid concrete being denser displaces the less-dense bentonite slurry and causes the latter to overflow from the trench. 
This displaced bentonite slurry is then channeled to a recycling unit from which it can subsequently be reused in a new trench elsewhere on the construction site.
In addition, because the colloid is relatively impervious to water, a slurry wall can prevent the seepage of groundwater, which is useful in preventing the further spread of groundwater that has been contaminated by toxic material such as industrial waste.
Clays containing predominantly montmorillonite, formed as a result of the chemical decomposition of volcanic ash, tuff and lava rich in aluminum and magnesium, are defined as 'bentonite'. 

Bentonite is a versatile clay used in industry, agriculture, mining and engineering geology.
The geological properties and usage areas of bentonite change according to the formation of Ca, Na and Na-Ca montmorillonites. 
Na bentonite, which has a high swelling capacity, swells 8-10 times its own volume in contact with water, while the swelling rate in Ca-bentonites is 2-3 times. 
Na and Na-Ca bentonites are used in works such as drilling, iron powder pelleting, while Ca-bentonites, which have less swelling capacity, are used in works such as bleaching and are also commonly called 'bleaching earth-fuller earths'. 
By treating such clays with Na2CO3, swelling capacity can be increased as a result of Na/Ca ion displacement.
Since bentonite with improved rheological properties is required in engineering and drilling works, Ca-bentonites can be used as soda, etc. 
Activation with additives was mandatory. 
In addition, Ca-bentonites used as bleaching earth may need to be activated with acid to bring the bleaching power to the desired level. 
Since Ca-bentonite is much more common in our country, activation processes are inevitable, and activation processes with acid and additives such as CMC are applied. 
The general chemical formula of bentonite, a type of clay minerals; (Na,Ca) (Al,Mg) 6(Si4O10) 3(OH)6 nH2O.

Bentonite, volcanic ash, tuff and lavas formed by the chemical decomposition and decomposition of very small crystals of clay minerals (mainly montmorillonite), absorbing and swelling a lot of water, high ionization capacity, drilling mud, catalyst, paint, plastic, filler, etc. 
Bentonite is a commercial name given to an earthy mineral used in On the mineralogical and chemical composition of bentonite; There are different classifications according to industrial and engineering applications and similar usage areas. 
Here, the classification for industrial and engineering applications is given. 
These are: Wyoming product 85% 200 mesh bentonite bentonite suitable for casting, Fuller earths treated with soda ash, suitable for casting, Fuller earths treated with soda ash, suitable for engineering works, -OCMA special product, -API special product, In addition, a bentonite product used as 'cat litter' and 'white bentonite' are also included in this classification.

Bentonite is a kind of natural clay. 
Bentonite is called "Living Clay" because of its ability to make chemical changes. 
Bentonite can be used both internally (by mouth) and externally (applied to the skin). 
Bentonite has a wide range of uses in terms of health. 
Bentonite Liquid; The pH level is above 9 and supports the body alkalinity level. 
Bentonite helps to get rid of all kinds of chemicals, toxic toxins, viruses and bacteria accumulated in the body over time. 

Bentonite supports the detox (purification/cleansing) process of the digestive system, colon and liver. 
Bentonite helps to remove heavy metals such as lead and mercury from the body.
The term Bentonite was first used for a clay found in about 1890 in upper cretaceous tuff near Fort Benton, Montana. 
The main constituent, which is the determinant factor in the clay's properties, is the clay mineral montmorillonite. 
This in turn, derives its name from a deposit at Montmorillon, in Southern France.
Bentonite is a clay generated frequently from the alteration of volcanic ash, consisting predominantly of smectite minerals, usually montmorillonite.
Other smectite group minerals include hectorite, saponite, beidelite and nontronite. 
Smectites are clay minerals, i.e. they consist of individual crystallites the majority of which are <2µm in largest dimension. 
Smectite crystallites themselves are three-layer clay minerals. 
They consist of two tetrahedral layers and one octahedral layer. 
In montmorillonite tetrahedral layers consisting of [SiO4] - tetrahedrons enclose the [M(O5,OH)]-octahedron layer (M = and mainly Al, Mg, but Fe is also often found). 
The silicate layers have a slight negative charge that is compensated by exchangeable ions in the intercrystallite region. 
The charge is so weak that the cations (in natural form, predominantly Ca2+, Mg2+ or Na+ ions) can be adsorbed in this region with their hydrate shell. 
The extent of hydration produces intercrystalline swelling. 
Depending on the nature of ther genesis, bentonites contain a variety of accessory minerals in addition to montmorillonite. 
These minerals may include quartz, feldspar, calcite and gypsum. 
The presence of these minerals can impact the industrial value of a deposit, reducing or increasing its value depending on the application. 

Bentonite presents strong colloidal properties and its volume increases several times when coming into contact with water, creating a gelatinous and viscous fluid. 
The special properties of bentonite (hydration, swelling, water absorption, viscosity, thixotropy) make it a valuable material for a wide range of uses and applications.
Bentonite deposits are normally exploited by quarrying. 
Extracted bentonite is distinctly solid, even with a moisture content of approximately 30%. 
The material is initially crushed and, if necessary, activated with the addition of soda ash (Na2CO3). 
Bentonite is subsequently dried (air and/or forced drying) to reach a moisture content of approximately 15%. 
According to the final application, bentonite is either sieved (granular form) or milled (into powder and super fine powder form). 
For special applications, bentonite is purified by removing the associated gangue minerals, or treated with acids to produce acid-activated bentonite (bleaching earths), or treated with organics to produce organoclays.
Chemically-modified clay catalysts find application in a diverse range of duties where acid catalysis is a key mechanism. 
Most particularly, they are employed in the alkylation processes to produce fuel additives.

Bentonite is a very soft plastic clay consisting predominantly of montmorillonite, a fine particle sized hydrous aluminum silicate and member of the smectite group. 
Most bentonites are formed by the alteration of volcanic ash and rocks after intense contact with water. 
Bentonite presents strong colloidal properties and increases its volume several times when coming into contact with water, creating a gelatinous and viscous substance. 
Bentonites specific properties include swelling, water absorption, viscosity and thixotropy. These properties are in demand in a huge range of industries served by Imerys, earning it the nickname ‘the mineral with a thousand uses’.

Bentonite clay contains natural minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and iron, which may provide additional benefits.
Bentonite clay forms from volcanic ash. It gets its name from Fort Benton in Wyoming, where it occurs in large amounts. 
People can also find this clay in other places where volcanic ash has settled into the ground. 
Montmorillonite clay, named after Montmorillon in France, is the same type of clay.
Bentonite, which is an alumina silicate structure from the clay family, is defined by its high water retention feature compared to other clays. 
Ca-Bentonite ( Bentonite) also has high plasticity with its water holding behavior. 
With this feature, it has become a material needed in the ceramic industry in prescriptions.
In addition to this area of ​​use, there is a field of use from various filtration processes to the production of cat litter.

Bentonite contains a hydrated aluminium silicate clay mineral responsible for its sealing and lubrication properties. 
Natural bentonite is classified by the predominant balancing cation, normally sodium or calcium.
All applications of bentonite rely on its reaction with water. 
Sibelco’s sodium bentonite bonding properties occur in the early stage of water absorption approximating its plastic limit of 50% to 70%. 
When mixed at low concentration in water, our sodium bentonite exhibits a stable thinning behavior. 
Bentonite is used in agriculture, building and construction, civil engineering, drilling and foundry.

Bentonite is a highly colloidal clay mineral which gets its name from the place where its presence and usages were first discovered - Fort Benton, America. 
The multiple properties of bentonite namely hydration, swelling, water absorption, viscosity, thixotropy make it a multi-application product for diverse industries. 
Primarily two varieties of bentonite are available - sodium bentonite (high swelling, gelling and thermal durability) and  Bentonite (more commonly available worldwide but with less swelling).
Bentonite is a clay material that is quite abundant on earth. 
Bentonite was and is still formed in nature by weathering of Volcanic ashes and subsequent sedimentation. 
Bentonite properties are determined mainly by the amount and type of smectite-type layer silicates, for example montmorillonite.

These minerals consist of stacks of platelet-like crystals that can fully disintegrate in water and form viscous slurries. 
They also exhibit a high specific surface area and cation exchange capacity, and can thus adsorb and bind quite a variety of molecules. 
All these properties, and many more, vary from one bentonite deposit to the other, and they can all be influenced by an appropriate treatment of the clay by various processes.
Bentonite is a clay consisting mainly of smectite minerals, commonly formed by decomposition of volcanic ash or tuff, or sometimes from other igneous or sedimentary rocks. 
Bentonite is a very plastic clay that shrinks (or swells) markedly in response to the removal (or addition) of water.
There are three main types of bentonite:

-high swelling (sodium)
-low swelling (calcium)
-moderate swelling (intermediate sodium-calcium) bentonite.

The sodium bentonites are the most useful because of their greater swelling capacity. 
They are used mainly as bonding clay in foundries, in drilling mud, in animal feed pellets, and for civil engineering applications
Historically the majority of bentonite production in Victoria has been from the Greenwald deposit. 
The deposit consists of a layer of up to six metres thickness of calcium-rich bentonite that rests on limestone and is overlain by sandy clay and basalt. 
Most of the bentonite has been used in animal feed pellets.
The only other significant bentonite deposit is at Gellibrand, where there are a few impure bentonite seams interlayered with feldspathic sandstone, mudstone and shale.
There are minor bentonite occurrences at Soapy Rocks near Anglesea, at Poowong in South Gippsland, and near Coleraine.
There is potential for bentonite discoveries in the Murray Basin in northwestern Victoria. The host rocks are equivalent to those of the Arumpo deposit in southwest NSW.

Bentonite is the common name for naturally occurring clay that contains the active montmorillonite mineral.  
The special properties of montmorillonite that enable commercial applications include the sub-micron platelet structure, very high surface area (≈800 m2/g), and inherent negative charge in the platelet that is counter balanced by exchangeable cations.
Bentonites are typically classified as either sodium (swelling) or calcium (non-swelling) based on their interlayer exchangeable cations and ability to swell in water. 
Bentonites with sodium (Na+) ions as the predominant exchangeable cation exhibit a high swelling capability in water, whereas bentonites with calcium (Ca++) ions as the majority exchangeable cation exhibit much lower swelling ability.
Bentonite is known as the “Mineral of 1,000 Uses.” 
Based on our proven ability to selectively mine for specific applications and modify the surface of the mineral to deliver performance, bentonite clay has major commercial applications in foundry green sand binders, building waterproofing, cat litter, geosynthetic clay liners for environmental uses, iron ore pelletizing, drilling muds, edible oil clarification, animal feeds, and wine/juice clarification.  
Specialty applications of bentonite clay include asphalt emulsions, catalysts, cosmetics, paints and pharmaceuticals.


USES:

The main uses of bentonite are in drilling mud and as a binder, purifier, absorbent, and carrier for fertilizers or pesticides. 
As of around 1990, almost half of the US production of bentonite was used as drilling mud. Minor uses include filler, sealant, and catalyst in petroleum refining.  
Bentonite is sometimes marketed as fuller's earth, whose uses overlap with those of other forms of bentonite.
Bentonite is used in drilling mud to lubricate and cool the cutting tools, to remove cuttings, and to help prevent blowouts. 
Bentonite also curtails drilling fluid invasion by its propensity for aiding in the formation of mud cake.
Much of bentonite's usefulness in the drilling and geotechnical engineering industry comes from its unique rheological properties. 
Relatively small quantities of bentonite suspended in water form a viscous, shear-thinning material. Most often, bentonite suspensions are also thixotropic, although rare cases of rheopectic behavior have also been reported.
At high enough concentrations (about 60 grams of bentonite per litre of suspension), bentonite suspensions begin to take on the characteristics of a gel (a fluid with a minimum yield strength required to make it move).

Bentonite has been widely used as a foundry-sand bond in iron and steel foundries. 
Sodium bentonite is most commonly used for large castings that use dry molds, while Bentonite is more commonly used for smaller castings that use "green" or wet molds. 
Bentonite is also used as a binding agent in the manufacture of iron ore (taconite) pellets as used in the steelmaking industry. 
Bentonite, in small percentages, is used as an ingredient in commercial and homemade clay bodies and ceramic glazes. 
Bentonite greatly increases the plasticity of clay bodies and decreases settling in glazes, making both easier to work with for most applications.
The ionic surface of bentonite has a useful property in making a sticky coating on sand grains. 

When a small proportion of finely ground bentonite clay is added to hard sand and wetted, the clay binds the sand particles into a moldable aggregate known as green sand used for making molds in sand casting. 
Some river deltas naturally deposit just such a blend of clay silt and sand, creating a natural source of excellent molding sand that was critical to ancient metalworking technology. 
Modern chemical processes to modify the ionic surface of bentonite greatly intensify this stickiness, resulting in remarkably dough-like yet strong casting sand mixes that stand up to molten metal temperatures.
The same effluvial deposition of bentonite clay onto beaches accounts for the variety of plasticity of sand from place to place for building sand castles. 
Beach sand consisting of only silica and shell grains does not mold well compared to grains coated with bentonite clay. 
This is why some beaches are much better for building sandcastles than others.

Bentonites are used for decolorizing various mineral, vegetable, and animal oils. They are also used for clarifying wine, liquor, cider, beer, mead, and vinegar.
The property of swelling on contact with water makes sodium bentonite useful as a sealant since it provides a self-sealing, low-permeability barrier. 
Bentonite is used to line the base of landfills to prevent migration of leachate, for quarantining metal pollutants of groundwater, and for the sealing of subsurface disposal systems for spent nuclear fuel.
Similar uses include making slurry walls, waterproofing of below-grade walls, and forming other impermeable barriers, e.g., to seal off the annulus of a water well, to plug old wells.
Bentonite can also be "sandwiched" between synthetic materials to create geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) for the aforementioned purposes. 
This technique allows for more convenient transport and installation, and it greatly reduces the volume of bentonite required. 

Bentonite is also used to form a barrier around newly planted trees to constrain root growth so as to prevent damage to nearby pipes, footpaths, and other infrastructure. 
Farmers use bentonite to seal retention ponds and line canals.
Bentonite has the property of adsorbing relatively large amounts of protein molecules from aqueous solutions. 
Consequently, bentonite is uniquely useful in the process of winemaking, where it is used to remove excessive amounts of protein from white wines. 
Were it not for this use of bentonite, many or most white wines would precipitate undesirable flocculent clouds or hazes upon exposure to warm temperatures, as these proteins denature. 
Bentonite also has the incidental use of inducing more rapid clarification of both red and white wines.

Bentonite is also considered an effective low-cost adsorbent for the removal of chromium (VI) ions from aqueous solutions (contaminated wastewater).
Bentonite is used as a bonding material in the preparation of molding sand for the production of iron, steel and non-ferrous casting. 
The unique properties of bentonite yield green sand moulds with good flowability, compactability and thermal stability for the production of high quality castings.
Bentonite is used for cat litter, due to its advantage of absorbing refuse by forming clumps (which can be easily removed) leaving the remaining product intact for further use.
Bentonite is used as a binding agent in the production of iron ore pellets. 
Through this process, iron ore fines are converted into spherical pellets, suitable as feed material in blast furnaces for pig iron production, or in the production of direct reduction iron (DRI).

Bentonite in civil engineering applications is used traditionally as a thixotropic, support and lubricant agent in diaphragm walls and foundations, in tunnelling, in horizontal directional drilling and pipe jacking. 
Bentonite, due to its viscosity and plasticity, also is used in Portland cement and mortars.
Bentonite's adsorption/absorption properties are very useful for wastewater purification. 
Common environmental directives recommend low permeability soils, which naturally should contain bentonite, as a sealing material in the construction and rehabilitation of landfills to ensure the protection of groundwater from the pollutants. 
Bentonite is the active protective layer of geosynthetic clay liners.
Another conventional use of bentonite is as a mud constituent for oil and water well drilling. 
Its roles are mainly to seal the borehole walls, to remove drill cuttings and to lubricate the cutting head.

Bentonite is utilized in the removal of impurities in oils where its adsorptive properties are crucial in the processing of edible oils and fats (Soya/palm/canola oil). 
In drinks such as beer, wine and mineral water, and in products like sugar or honey, bentonite is used as a clarification agent.
Bentonite has high swelling properties along with good viscosity and liquid limit. 
These properties are highly valued in most of the industrial applications. 
Sodium bentonite is well suited as a binder in the preparation of pellets, and in foundry and oil - well drilling mud. 
Bentonite also acts as a suspending agent in oil - well drilling fluids. Bentonite exhibits good green strength along with high hot and dry strength which helps in preventing moulds from breaking or cracking during the pouring or cooling processs in the foundry industry. 
Owing to high green strength resulting from its property to absorb and then release moisture, bentonite is used in iron ore pelletisation. 
Sodium-based bentonite of 75 mm size finds suitability in iron ore pelletisation for bonding by user industries. 
Bentonite has also remarkable colloidal and waterproofing properties. 

Bentonite gels are used as a carrier for a number of cosmetic preparations, toothpastes, creams, etc.
Bentonite is also used in chemical, rubber, insecticide & pesticide industries and in civil construction works. 
Bentonite in the form of fine powder free from dirt and other foreign matter and of least swelling property is used in ceramic industry.
Bentonite is a general purpose additive that is used as a pigment and colorant and to clarify and stabilize wine.
Bentonite also acts as an overall formula stabilizer. Bentonite’s water-absorption capabilities allow it to form a gelatinous mass. 
Considered a noncomedogenic raw material, bentonite is a colloidal aluminum silicate clay.


MEDICAL USES:

Bentonite has been prescribed as a bulk laxative, and it is also used as a base for many dermatologic formulas. 
Granular bentonite is being studied for use in battlefield wound dressings.
Bentonite is also sold online and in retail outlets for a variety of indications.
Bentoquatam is a bentonate-based topical medication intended to act as a shield against exposure to urushiol, the oil found in plants such as poison ivy or poison oak.
Bentonite can also be used as a desiccant due to its adsorption properties. 
Bentonite desiccants have been successfully used to protect pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and diagnostic products from moisture degradation and extend shelf life. 
In fact, in the most common package environments, bentonite desiccants offer a higher adsorption capacity than silica gel desiccants. 
Bentonite complies with the FDA for contact with food and drugs. 


AGRICULTURAL USES:

The application of clay technology by farmers in northeast Thailand, using bentonite clay, has dramatically reversed soil degradation and resulted in greater economic returns, with higher yields and higher output prices. 
Studies carried out by The International Water Management Institute and partners in 2002–2003 focused on the application of locally sourced bentonite clays to degraded soils in the region. 
These applications were carried out in structured field trials. 
Applying bentonite clays effectively improved yields of forage sorghum grown under rain-fed conditions.
Bentonite application also influenced the prices that farmers received for their crops. 
Production costs are higher, but due to more production and the quality of the food, clay farmers could afford to invest and grow more and better food, compared to nonclay-using farmers.

Bentonite is used as an animal feed supplement, as a pelletizing aid in the production of animal feed pellets, as well as a flowability aid for unconsolidated feed ingredients such as soy meal. 
Bentonite also is used as an ion exchanger for improvement and conditioning of the soil. 
When thermally treated, it can be used as a porous ceramic carrier for various herbicides and pesticides.
Bentonite, also known as montmorillonite, volcanic clay, soap clay and amargosite, is a soft, plastic, lightcolored, porous rock consisting largely of colloidal silica. 
Composed essentially of clay minerals, it swells extensively when wet. 
Bentonite belongs chiefly to the montmorillonite group and has two varieties: (a) sodium bentonite, with a high swelling capacity in water, and (b)  Bentonite, with negligible swelling capacity.

Bentonite is used variously as a suspending aid, a gelatinous slurry to extinguish fire, a paint thickener, and as a sealant for earthen pots. 
Bentonite is also widely used in metallurgy, soap manufacture, and in petroleum refining because of its high decolorizing power and strong adsorbing capacity.
Clays exist in many forms, of which montmorillonite is one form. 
Kaolinite and montmorillonite, which are clay minerals, have different layer structures with differing abilities to absorb and retain water, and to adsorb and exchange cations.
Montmorillonites have an expanding structure (2: 1) and have high cation exchange capacity (80 to 120 mg per 100 g). 
They have abundant black clay soils. Other minerals in this group are biedellite and nontronite.


PHARMACEUTICAL USES:

Cosmetics and Medical Markets: Bentonite is used as filler in pharmaceuticals, and due to its absorption/adsorption functions, it allows paste formation. 
Such applications include industrial protective creams, calamine lotion, wet compresses, and antiirritants for eczema. 
In medicine, bentonite is used as an antidote in heavy metal poisoning. 
Personal care products such as mud packs, sunburn paint, baby and facepowders, and face creams may all contain bentonite.
Bentonite is a naturally occurring hydrated aluminum silicate used primarily in the formulation of suspensions, gels, and sols, for topical pharmaceutical applications. It is also used to suspend powders in aqueous preparations and to prepare cream bases containing oil-in-water emulsifying agents.

Bentonite may also be used in oral pharmaceutical preparations, cosmetics, and food products. 
In oral preparations, bentonite, and other similar silicate clays, can be used to adsorb cationic drugs and so retard their release. 
Adsorbents are also used to mask the taste of certain drugs.
Bentonite has been investigated as a diagnostic agent for magnetic resonance imaging.
Therapeutically, bentonite has been investigated as an adsorbent for lithium poisoning.

DETERGENT USES:

Laundry detergents and liquid hand cleansers/soaps rely on the inclusion of bentonite, in order to remove the impurities in solvents and to soften the fabrics.


PAINTING USES:

Dyes and Polishes: Due to its thixotropic properties, bentonite and organoclays function as a thickening and/or suspension agent in varnishes, and in water and solvent paints. 
Bentonites adsorption properties are appreciated for the finishing of indigo dying cloth, and in dyes (lacquers for paints & wallpapers).


PAPER USES:

Bentonite is crucial to paper making, where it is used in pitch control, i.e. absorption of wood resins that tend to obstruct the machines and to improve the efficiency of conversion of pulp into paper as well as to improve the quality of the paper. 
Bentonite also offers useful de-inking properties for paper recycling.
In addition, acid-activated bentonite is used as the active component in the manufacture of carbonless copy paper.


USAGE AREAS:

-Due to its colloidal property and high plasticity, bentonite has the property of binding the sands used as mold material in casting.
-Bentonite ensures that the drilling mud becomes viscous, the crumbs are carried up and water leaks are prevented.
-With the acid activation of Ca-Bentonites, which are used to lighten the color of oils, the surface areas and spaces in the crystal are expanded, Fe, Ti, Ca, Na and K are separated from the crystal lattice structure of clay minerals, H+ - bonds are formed in their spaces, they are converted into bleaching earth and vegetable oils (olive oil) It is used as a filter material in the refining of sunflower, corn, sesame, soybean, palm, canola, cottonseed oils.
-Bentonite is used for pelletizing bentonite iron powders with binder and plastic properties.
-In civil engineering, in obtaining water and liquid impermeability in foundation and dam structures,
-In the clarification of wine and fruit juices, -In the production of animal feed,
-As an additive in the cement industry, in the ceramic industry,
-In oil refining,
-In the cleaning of waste water,
-In paint industry and fire extinguishers,
-Bentonite is used in fertilizer making and soil improvement.


Most of the bentonite deposits are operated by open pit mining method; Due to the thickness of the cover on some very high quality bentonite deposits, it can also be operated in closed operation, as in one of the Bavarian bentonite quarries. 
In the production technology, wheeled buckets, scrapers and crawler buckets as well as trucks and wagons with large transport volumes constitute the first stage. 
The second stage is the crushing, grinding, activating and packaging facility established close to the drying area. 
Bentonite grinders generally have a grinding feature of 200-325 mesh grain sizes. 
Except for the rainy seasons, the bentonite taken from the quarry is spread and laid in the drying areas if it will not be activated with soda. 
The dried bentonite is given to the coarse crusher warehouse with scoops, the roughly crushed bentonite is brought to the 200 mesh mill with belts, where it is ground on the one hand and dried with 2 hot air streams on the other hand and separated from the grains below 200 mes. 
Then Bentonite is packed in moisture-proof 50 kg bags. Bentonites are called 'Na active bentonite, active bleaching earth or polymer added bentonite' according to the type of activation or additive material used. 
The most commonly used method to increase the quality of bentonite is the activation method with sodium carbonate. 

This method is to mix the bentonite with a certain moisture content with soda in the appropriate ratio. 
Ca bentonites are activated with acid to increase the bleaching power of natural bentonites used as color removers in edible oils. 
In this process, the bentonite to be acidified is boiled with 30% of its dry weight in HCl at 105 °C for 2-3 hours. 
After the reaction with the acid, the bentonite is washed to reduce the acidity and then dried and ground. 
Bentonite shows irregular bedding along lenses, pockets, masses, intermediate levels and fractures in igneous rocks, volcanic intercalated sedimentary and purely sedimentary units in Turkey.

Bentonite on the market; It is sold in raw, ground bulk, ground bagged and activated form. There are bentonite varieties used in drilling, pelleting, casting, pharmaceutical, filling and oil bleaching industries in our country. 
Bentonite in Turkey; It is used in many areas such as drilling, pelleting, foundry industry and bleaching of oils. 
Researches continue for cleaning material production and paper industry. 
Environmental problems such as filling the operation pits with water, landslides and soil run-off formed in bentonite quarries produced by open pit mining should be eliminated with post-operation rehabilitation studies. 
Bentonite is necessary to use a filter for the dust generated during production, and random distribution of the removed cover layer to the environment should be prevented.


APPLICATION:

For representative application data and nanocomposite processing methods see datasheet G105.
Untreated (no organic modification) hydrophilic clay for dispersion in water-based polymers and coatings

-Rheology control
-Increase barrier
-Enhance chemical resistance


PROPERTIES:

-Strong colloidal properties 
-Swells in contact with water
-Water absorption 
-High viscosity 
-High plasticity 
-Thixotropy


CHEMICAL PROPERTIES:

Bentonite is a crystalline, claylike mineral, and is available as an odorless, pale buff, or cream to grayish-colored fine powder, which is free from grit. 
Bentonite consists of particles about 50–150 mm in size along with numerous particles about 1–2μm. 
Microscopic examination of samples stained with alcoholic methylene blue solution reveals strongly stained blue particles. 
Bentonite may have a slight earthy taste.


PRODCUTION METHOD:

Bentonite is a native, colloidal, hydrated aluminum silicate, found in regions of Canada and the USA. 
The mined ore is processed to remove grit and nonswelling materials so that it is suitable for pharmaceutical applications.


SAFETY:

Bentonite is mainly used in topical pharmaceutical formulations but has also been used in oral pharmaceutical preparations, food products, and cosmetics.
Following oral administration, bentonite is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. 
Bentonite is generally regarded as a nontoxic and nonirritant material.
LD50 (rat, IV): 0.035 g/kg.


STORAGE:

Bentonite is hygroscopic, and sorption of atmospheric water should be avoided.
Aqueous bentonite suspensions may be sterilized by autoclaving. 
The solid material may be sterilized by maintaining it at 1708℃ for 1 hour after drying at 1008℃.
Bentonite should be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.


PACKAGING:

500 g in poly bottle

SYNONYM:

Sodium bentonite
Bentonite, sodian
85049-30-5
EINECS 285-199-4
Q27281818


IUPAC NAME:

Bentonite
bentonite
Bentonite
BENTONITE CLAY
dioxosilane
dioxosilane; oxo(oxoalumanyloxy)alumane; hydrate
nitrilotriethane-2,1-diyl trinitrate
Sodium bentonite


TRADE NAME:

Bentoniet (nl)
Bentoniit (et)
Bentoniitti (fi)
Bentonit (cs)
Bentonit (da)
Bentonit (de)
Bentonit (hr)
Bentonit (hu)
Bentonit (mt)
Bentonit (pl)

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