Characterization of Organic Surfactant on Montmorillonite Nanoclay to Be Used in Bitumen

Abstract

In the past decades, montmorillonite nanoclay has been used successfully to strongly improve properties of polymers. Similar improvements to nanoclay modified bitumen were expected, so the montmorillonite nanoclay was adopted to modify bitumen. To understand the interaction with bitumen, it was of fundamental importance to know the composition of organic surfactant on montmorillonite nanoclay. Two organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) nanoclays available in the market were studied to characterize the composition of the surfactant through X-ray photoelectron spectrometry and simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric (DSC-TG) analysis. From the measurements it could be concluded that there was a difference between the surfactants. One surfactant was composed of two states of nitrogen: quaternary ammonium and probably amine or nitrile. The other surfactant only contained quaternary ammonium. In general,