What are Bentonite Characteristics and Applications？

 Properties of Bentonite

 - Hygroscopicity: Bentonite has a strong affinity for moisture, capable of adsorbing up to 8–15 times its volume in water. When it absorbs water, its volume can expand by more than 30 times.
 - Expandability: Upon contact with water, its volume can increase several to over ten times. Sodium-based bentonite has a higher expansion capacity compared to calcium-based or acidic bentonite.
 - Cation Exchange Capacity: It possesses a strong ability to exchange cations, with a maximum adsorption capacity of up to five times its weight.
 - Thixotropy, Adhesiveness, and Adsorption: In aqueous media, it can disperse into a colloidal suspension, exhibiting thixotropy, adhesiveness, and lubricity. When combined with water, clay, or fine particulate materials like sand, it forms a mixture with plasticity and adhesiveness. It also has the ability to adsorb various gases, liquids, and organic substances.
 - Other Properties: It also has thickening, stabilizing, and decolorizing properties.

 Applications of Bentonite

 Industrial Fields
   - Drilling Mud: Bentonite has excellent suspension and thixotropic properties in aqueous solutions, making it particularly suitable for formulating drilling mud.
   - Metallurgical Pelletizing Binder: As an important component of binders for metallurgical pellets, it has good water absorption, dispersion, lubrication, and thickening properties.
   - Lubricating Grease: Used as a high-temperature lubricant, suitable for the lubrication of medium-low speed mechanical equipment operating within a temperature range of 0–160°C.
   - Rubber Industry: It can enhance the performance of rubber products, reduce production costs, and improve the bonding strength between rubber and cord fabric as well as the processing performance of rubber compounds.
   - Coatings: Acts as a suspension stabilizer, improving the suspension stability of coatings and preventing the settling and stratification of pigments and fillers during storage.
   - Papermaking: It has good adhesive and fiber cross-linking properties, which can increase the strength and tensile properties of paper.
   - Textile Printing and Dyeing: Used as a sizing component and printing paste, it enhances the appearance of yarns and reduces breakage rates.
   - Ceramic Industry: Serves as a plasticizer for ceramic raw materials, increasing the compressive strength of ceramic bodies.
   - Mechanical Industry: Used in the production of high-temperature lubricating greases.
   - Construction, Water Conservancy, Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels: Applied in walls, foundations, roofs, floors, riverbeds, channels, riverbanks, slopes, roadbeds, pavements, bridge piers, bridge foundations, tunnel walls, and tunnel floors, it enhances the seismic performance and durability of structures.
   - Environmental Engineering: Used in wastewater treatment, pollution control, and soil and water conservation.

Agricultural Field
    - Feed Additive: Contains various mineral elements beneficial for animal growth and development. It can be used as a feed additive to improve feed utilization and increase meat and egg production in poultry.
    - Soil Improvement: Used for soil and water conservation, plant cultivation, and soil improvement, it enhances agricultural productivity.

Daily Chemical Field
    - Cosmetics: Acts as an adsorbent, stabilizer, and moisturizer, with functions such as cleaning, whitening, and soothing.
    - Pharmaceutical Suspensions and Antidiarrheal Drugs: Possessing suspension and adsorption properties, it can be used as a pharmaceutical suspension aid. Its main component, montmorillonite, has adsorptive effects on viruses and bacteria in the gut and can be used to make antidiarrheal drugs.
    - Desiccant: Has adsorptive activity, reduces static humidity, and has deodorizing properties.

Other Fields
   - Decolorizer for Animal and Vegetable Oils: Can be used for decolorization, deodorization, detoxification, and reduction of oil oxidation in animal and vegetable oils.
    - Wine Clarifier: Used for clarifying wine and optimizing its quality.
    - Cat Litter: As cat litter, it has a strong ability to adsorb liquids and odors.