Preparation and thermal properties of organically modified bentonite with ionic liquids Boumediene Haddad 1,3 , Didier Villemin 2* , Karima Dahamni 1 , Habib Belarbi 1 , Taqiyeddine Moumene 1 , Serge Bresson 4 , Ahmed Haouzi 1 , Mustapha Rahmouni 1 1 Synthesis and Catalysis Laboratory LSCT, Univ. Tiaret, BP 78 Tiaret14000 RP, (ALGERIA) 2 Normandie UniversitØ France, ENSICAEN, LCMT, UMR CNRS 6507, INC3M, FR 3038, Labex EMC3, Labex SynOrg, 14050 Caen, (FRANCE) 3 Department of Chemistry, Dr Moulay Tahar University of Saida, (ALGERIA) 4 Laboratoire de Physique des SystLmes Complexes, UniversitØ Picardie Jules Verne, 33 rue S t Leu 80039 Amiens cedex, (FRANCE) E-mail: didier.villemin@ensicaen.fr Abstract : Local bentonite clay was organically modified via cation exchange reaction using four ionic liquids (ILs: MPrPI, MPrPPI, BMIM and BrPrMIM) differing in their chemi- cal architecture. In order to confirm the insertion of these ILs in layered silicates, basal spacings of interlamellar structure, have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analy- sis, results indicate that the interlayer spacing of the piperidinium organo-bentonite ranged from 14.46 to 14.86 ¯, while it ranged between 13.10 and 14.46 ¯ in imidazolium organo-bentonite. More specifically, a monolayer configura- tion of ILs within the interlayer space was indicated by XRD results. To obtain information on the thermal stability and deg- radation products, thermals properties of these imidazolium and piperidinium ions exchanged on the surface of bentonite were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry INTRODUCTION Organoclays have drawn much attention from the academe to the industrial communities for a long time [1] . Many researchers have investigated these products because of their interesting properties [2] . They represent a new generation of adsorbents for both organic and inorganic pollutants; this is due to their small particle size, swelling capacity, anisotropic shape, reactive surfaces, large specific surface area and high ion exchange capacity [3] . The advantage that the organoclays present is the possibility of changing their properties by varying the structure of the intercalated organic species [4] , the combination of the hydrophobic nature of the organic species and the layered structure of the silicate layers leads to unique physicochemical properties. As a consequence, a number of previous studies have demonstrated that the interlayer spacing (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTG) from room temperature to 400C. These thermal measurements revealed that organobentonite showed two distinct regions; (I) from 50 to 150C corresponds to the removal of adsorbed water and the elimination of the water species coordinated to the interlayer cations; (II) thermal degradation of ionic liquids took place in the temperature range of 150 - 350C, also, the imidazolium modified bentonites were thermally more stable than those modified with piperidinium. These results seem to be promising regarding to the potential application of these modified bentonites as adsorbents or for the melt processing preparation of nanocomposites.  Trade Science Inc. Keywords : Organoclay; Ionic liquids; Thermal charac- terization; XDR; ATG/DTG. full paper ChemXpress 9(4), 295-302, (2016) ISSN(Print) : 2320 1967 ISSN(Online) : 2320 1975