Modification of palygorskite with cationic and nonionic surfactants for use in oil-based drilling fluids

The objective of this work was to synthesize and characterize organically modified palygorskite clay with cationic and nonionic surfactants for use as an additive in oil-based drilling fluids. The cationic surfactant used was praepagen WB and the nonionic ones were ultramine TA50 and ultramine TA20. The organo-palygorskite clay (OPal) was obtained using a proportion of 15% of the surfactants. The samples were characterized by TG, DTA, DSC, DRX, MEV, and FTIR. The apparent and plastic viscosities were used to evaluate the rheological properties of OPal/oil dispersions aged at 66 and 150 °C. Through XRD and SEM, it was observed that the surfactants coated the clay surface without changing its crystal structure and morphology. Through TG, DTA, DSC, and FTIR, it was found that there was an incorporation of surfactants with content incorporated in the order of praepagen WB > Ultramina TA20 > Ultramina TA50. The organophilization process of palygorskite clay using cationic and non-ionic surfactants was effective. When mixing OPal with oil and aged at high temperatures, the dispersions OPal_WB/soluble oil and OPal_TA50/soluble oil show better rheological properties and thermal stability than dispersions formed with olefin. The rheological properties of OPal/soluble oil and OPal/glycerin + ethanol dispersions indicated that OPal is suitable for use as an additive in oil-based drilling fluids, showing that the nonionic surfactant can also be used to obtain organophilic clays.