Few introducing comments on the thermal analysis of organoclays

Organoclays are the adsorption products of organic matter by clay minerals. In modern technology, organoclay-based nanocomposites obtained by modifying Na-clay by primary adsorption of organic ammonium cations or long-chain cationic surfactants are widely used in different industries. They are potential candidates for serving as sorbents of different organic compounds by secondary adsorption. Organoclays are widely spread in the environment and are responsible for the colloid behavior of different environmental elements such as soils. This manuscript summarizes some of the basic knowledge on thermal analysis of organoclays and reviews some of the recent studies carried out in our laboratory on organoclays which occur in the environment, those applied in industry and of those obtained by secondary adsorption processes. Complexes in the environment or those used in industry are mainly of the smectite clay mineral montmorillonite and their thermal analysis in air is treated here.