Controlling wettability and hydrophobicity of organoclays modified with quaternary ammonium surfactants

[Display omitted] •To our knowledge, this is the first report which uses liquid penetration as a tool to compare the wettability.•Results emphasize the importance functional group attached to cationic moiety in controlling clay surface properties.•Two techniques are utilized viz., contact angle and liquid penetration to exhibit the behavior of the modified clays.•This report reveals that longer chain on cationic moiety is not the most effective way to hydrophobize the clay. The montmorillonite clays were modified with quaternary ammonium salts (QASs) having different alkyl chain lengths and a benzyl substitute group. The modified organoclays were characterized by different analytical techniques. The wettability and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the modified clays was evaluated using water or oil penetration (adsorption) and contact angle measurements. The loading of QASs was in the range of 0.60–0.75mmol/g per clay, irrespective of the type of QAS used for the modification of the clay. From the analytical investigations, it was elucidated that the modification of clay with QAS affected the structural, textural, and surface properties. Moreover, it should be noted that the modification with QAS having benzyl substitute group resulted in water-non-wettable and superhydrophobic surface, whereas clays modified with QAS without benzyl substitute group became more water-wettable and hydrophilic than the pristine clay. The presence of benzyl groups on the clay prevents water from penetration into the inter-clay or interlayer spacing, which yields the hydrophobic surface. These behaviors can arise from molecular arrangement of QAS on clay but not be attributable to the amount of QASs, and the surface area, size, and zeta potential of particles.