Patent ID: 7571869

Claim:
A process for mechanical conditioning of an extremely pure, natural, mineral layer silicate material, with a layer silicate proportion of >70% with the exclusion of preliminary heat treatment, destruction of crystalline structures and/or chemical or synthetic processes, in a fineness of 100-600 nm in the nano-range, in which the mechanical conditioning comprises the steps of: a) the material of the selected type as a mineral product of the highest purity is prebroken mechanically while maintaining the original, natural composition in the chemical and mineralogical respect thereby forming silicate particles with coarse agglomerates, b) the silicate particles are subjected to a deagglomeration process, with the coarse agglomerates being subjected to high acceleration and swirled with the aid of considerable air masses, c) the coarse agglomerates are broken up by being slammed against one another and against impact surfaces and in this case until primary crystallites with a degree of fineness of >about 300 nm are present, d) the deagglomerated layer silicate particles are drawn off by downstream fine sifting forming deagglomerated primary crystals, and e) incompletely deagglomerated particles are returned to the deagglomeration process and the deagglomerated primary crystals are drawn off, and for conditioning, the natural composition of the product is maintained in the chemical and mineralogical respect, the layer silicate particles are not exposed to any crushing destroying the crystal structure, and the layer silicate crystals remain unaffected in terms of their form and structure.