Patent ID: 7943690
Filing Date: 2011-05-17
Classification: C01B,C01P,C08K,C09C

Abstract:
1. A composition comprising water and a surface-modified smectite clay, wherein the clay is sheared with a hydrophobic surface-modifier comprising an alkyl quaternary ammonium compound and an amphiphilic copolymer selected from the group consisting of PEG 30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, polyglyceryl-2-dipolyhydroxystearate, and mixtures thereof, to produce an organophilic, hydrophobically surface-modified clay which is not dispersible in water without visibly apparent particle agglomeration or clumping, and wherein the surface of the hydrophobically surface-modified clay is subsequently hydrophilically-modified by shearing the organophilic clay with a hydrophilic polymer having a weight average molecular weight of less than 1,000,000 Dalton, such that the hydrophilic surface-modification achieved by the hydrophilic polymer renders the organophilic clay dispersible in water.