The preparation of hydrazine intercalated kaolinite and its electrorheological properties

A kaolinite/hydrazine intercalation complex with high intercalation rate was obtained when kaolinite was treated hydro-thermally with hydrazine as intercalation chemicals.A composite electrorheological(ER) fluid was prepared when the obtained intercalation complex was used as dispersoid and the methylsilicone oil was used as continuous phase.The intercalated complex has been characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR).The ER behaviors of the mixture were also investigated with the test device of ER fliud.The influences of the temperature,hydrazine concentration and pH value of hydro-thermal processing on the intercalation rate under hydrothermal conditions were also discussed.The ER effect was also studied when the intercalation complex was used as dispersoid.The experimental results showed that the intercalation complex with intercalation rate of 59% could be obtained when kaolinite was treated by using 50% hydrazine concentration at 160 ℃.The intercalation effect was notable in the preparation of kaolinite intercalation complex when hydrothermal method was used.An expansion of the original c-axis spacing of 0.714 nm in kaolinite to 1.037 nm,as a result of incorporation of hydrazine molecules into the kaolinite interlayer,has been observed.It was found that the ER properties of kaolin/hydrazine intercalated complex was remarkably superior to that of pure kaolinite evidently.