Attapulgite, also known as palygorskite or palygorskite, is a hydrated magnesium rich silicate clay mineral with a chain layered structure. It belongs to the 2:1 type clay mineral. In each 2:1 unit structure layer, the top corners of tetrahedral chips are reversed at a certain distance, forming a layer chain shape. A channel parallel to the chain is formed between tetrahedral bands, with a cross-section of approximately 3.7 * 6.3A °. The channel is filled with zeolite water and crystal water, as shown in the crystal structure diagram of attapulgite clay.

Attapulgite is a natural colloidal mineral, but it is a rod-shaped crystal with a very dense and firm aggregation state. Even particles that have been crushed to 0.1mm are difficult to easily disperse in the dispersing medium, which greatly limits the colloidal properties of attapulgite. Developed countries such as the United States have already discovered and processed attapulgite at an earlier stage. Expert research has shown that changing the structure of attapulgite to make it staggered and loose can greatly improve its effective area and dispersibility, and also fully utilize the adsorption and colloid properties of its crystals. Grinding and dispersion method is one of the most effective methods!

Characteristics of concave convex soil:

1. Good thickening properties. Full paint film, can opening effect;

2. Good suspension. Effectively prevent sedimentation and delamination of paint and coatings;

3. Good shaking and melting properties. Easy to apply, becomes thinner under shear force, and thickens again after standing still;

4. Good thixotropy. Directly added, with good compatibility, without the need to change the process and formula;

5. Good leveling performance. Anti shrinkage holes and fish eyes, not easy to hang;

6. Good weather resistance. Has strong acid and alkali resistance, corrosion resistance, and mold resistance;

7. Good insulation properties. High temperature resistance, insulation, insulation;

8. Good environmental friendliness. Chemical inertness, pollution-free, inhibits microbial growth, absorbs toxic volatile components, and is environmentally friendly

Due to its own characteristics, attapulgite is widely used as a ceramic separator material for lithium batteries. However, when attapulgite is mixed with water and other additives, the resulting slurry is prone to agglomeration and difficult to disperse.

The flowability of the bentonite slurry is poor, resembling a jelly like consistency. After using dispersers and sand mills from multiple companies, it is still difficult to disperse evenly. By chance, I had a detailed conversation with two Tsinghua PhDs and decided to use a grinding and dispersing machine for dispersion. Based on on-site experiments, the two PhDs analyzed the state of the slurry after grinding and dispersing, and found that the slurry had changed from a jelly like state to a liquid state with good fluidity. Dr. Tsinghua explained that the finer the particle size of the material in the slurry, the better the flowability of the slurry. The concave convex rod soil slurry changed from a jelly like state to a liquid slurry with good fluidity, and was ground and dispersed for 5 minutes, with a relatively high efficiency. Because the efficiency of grinding and dispersion is very low, whether using traditional sand mills or dual planetary mixing, a small batch of materials may need to be processed for 3-5 hours to barely meet the requirements, which will affect the efficiency of factory production.

A grinding and dispersing machine is an integrated device consisting of a colloid mill and a dispersing machine. It can first grind and refine the gelatinous substances and agglomerated powders in the concave convex soil slurry, and then disperse them through a dispersing working group at the moment of refinement, greatly reducing the re agglomeration of the slurry and improving the dispersion effect. When the processed bentonite slurry is used for membrane coating, there will be no obvious black spots or particles, which enables the bentonite slurry to be better applied in the lithium battery industry.

Important applications of attapulgite:

Due to its unique physical and chemical properties and processability, attapulgite clay has been widely used in various fields such as petroleum, chemical, building materials, papermaking, medicine, and agriculture. The most commonly used materials in China are coatings, drilling mud, and edible oil decolorization. In the brewing industry, using clay to clarify wine, beer and other alcoholic products can remove various residues and impurities in the wine, making the wine pure in quality.