So I was reading one of the bentone data sheets and it mentioned that VG-plus was 94-100% quaternary ammonium bentonite. So it just so happens that I have a few litres of a "Quat" or quaternary ammonium compound lying around as a 40% water based solution. So with a scoop of western bentonite into a jar and a very generous splash of the quat, I stirred it thoroughly. I thought it was going to be too wet as I added a fair bit of the stuff to the bentonite but the bentonite sucked it all up and made a thick stiff lumpy dough consistency. So I stuck it in a sunny spot spread out on a sieve to dry and came back later in the day to sieve it and put back into the jar with a foil lid and then bake in the oven at 120 deg C for a few hours. The kitchen had a noticeable ammonia smell and the bentonite mix was baked dry so I put it out in the backyard to cool (smells like sweaty ass and tarnished the alfoil). Anyway after cooling I put a small amount in a container as well as a small amount of untreated bentonite: both samples immediately soak up a drop of water instantly and get wetted by the water. Where the behaviour is different is when a drop of thick chainsaw bar oil is placed on top: the untreated bentonite has the oil sit on top with minimal wetting, while the treated bentonite slowly soaks up the oil drop. Under a magnification loupe you can see tiny specks of the treated bentonite get sucked into the oil drop whereas the untreated bentonite oil drop just has a bentonite dusting on the surface. In the photos, the untreated drop was placed first by about 30 seconds and the photo was taken at the ten minute mark. I'm not saying I have Bentone at this point, but mineral oil wets the treated sample much faster than the untreated sample. First photo is the untreated bentonite, second is the treated bentonite.
Very interesting! Someone here needs to send Mark a small sample of commercially prepared Bentone so that he can do a proper three way comparison. Mark, why is you have 'quat' lying around? Besides treating bentonite, what's it used for?
It's a disinfectant chemical, probably not viable if you can get hold of the real deal bentone. About all I can try is mix up a small sample of both in a Kbond recipe and see how different they are, i.e. if the properties are any good. There's no guarantee the treatment was even done right but seems about right compared to other patents for similar stuff.
