Preparation and characterization analysis of modified bentonite-based powder for improving explosion suppression effects

Properties of explosion suppression material have a significant impact on controlling the explosion propagations. Bentonite, with a large surface area and abundant pore structure, can adsorb free radicals during the explosion reactions. It is a kind of ideal explosion suppression materials. However, bentonite can easily absorb moisture and solidify into cakes in a humid environment, which lacks the possibilities of reactions with radicals in explosions and results in a poor suppression effect. To enhance the space suspension property of bentonite, in this paper, three surface modification methods are proposed to prepare the modified bentonite-based powder by using a silane coupling agent modification, silica encapsulation modification, and quaternary ammonium salt insertion modification. Then, changes in the characteristics of modified bentonite are analyzed and characterized using FTIR, SEM, et al. The results show that the pore structures fundamentally changed and surface is poor combination with water, which greatly solves the "Caking" problem.