Intercalation and exfoliation of kaolinite with sodium dodecyl sulfate

Kaolinite (Kaol) was intercalated with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and subsequently methanol (MeOH) to prepare intercalation compounds Kaol-DMSO and Kaol-MeOH. Kaol-MeOH was used as an intermediate to synthesize Kaol-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) intercalation compound (Kaol-SDS) via displacement reaction. The ultrasonic exfoliation of Kaol-SDS produced a resultant Kaol-SDS-U. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal analysis, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and particle size analysis. The results revealed that the intercalation of sodium dodecyl sulfate into kaolinite layers caused an obvious increase of the basal spacing from 0.72–4.21 nm. The dehydroxylation temperature of Kaol-SDS was obviously lower than that of original kaolinite. During the intercalation process of sodium dodecyl sulfate, a few kaolinite layers were exfoliated and curled up from the edges of the kaolinite sheets. After sonication treatment, the kaolinite layers were further transformed into nanoscrolls, and the exfoliated resultant Kaol-SDS-U possessed a smaller particle size close to nanoscale.