The vermiculite (VMT), 2:1 aluminosilicate family clay from the state of Goiás, Brazil, was used for the production of an organophilic clay. First, the VMT was treated with sodium chloride to obtain the homo-ionic sodium clay. The organophilic clay was, then, obtained from the reaction with the quaternary ammonium salt, cetyltrimethyl ammonium chloride. The clay treated with organic salt and the untreated one were characterized by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results of XRF evidenced the change in the chemical composition of the VMT after the exchange reactions with NaCl and the organic salt. The FTIR results showed the presence of the characteristic groups of the salt in the clay and the XRD confirmed the intercalation among the layers of the clay. The TGA results demonstrated that the organophlic clay presented other bands of decomposition, besides those presented by natural VMT, corresponding to the decomposition of the quaternary ammonium salt.
vermiculite; quaternary ammonium salt; organophilic vermiculite
