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Laponite is a synthetic smectite clay that was invented in 1962 by clay scientist Barbara Neumann. Laponite is usually produced as powder. It is a nanomaterial, made up of very small disk-shaped crystals, that is used in multiple industrial applications. Laponite was first marketed by the company Laporte plc, and is currently produced by BYK Additives & Instruments.[1][2][3][4][5] Laponite is not an approved mineral species, since it is not naturally occurring and it is not produced by geological processes.[6]
Development of laponite
In the first formulation of laponite created by Neumann in 1962, the synthetic clay was determined to be a fluorohectorite, and was produced in the form of discs that were 1 nanometer thick, and with a diameter of 60 to 80 nanometres. This went into mass production in 1964.[7] The mineral structure of the clay gives laponite its particular physical characteristics. It has a structure similar to the smectite group of clay minerals, with a 2:1 layered crystal structure in which two tetrahedral silica sheets lie either side of an octahedral sheet containing magnesium ions.[5]
In 1966, Neumann patented a second formulation of laponite, called 'Laponite RD'. This form was free from fluorine, and has subsequently become the most widely used form of laponite.[8] This form of laponite has an empirical formula of Na0.7[(Si8Mg5.5Li0.3)O20(OH)4].[5]
In later years, Neumann also created other variants of laponite including a lithium-free magnesium silicate clay, a form of synthetic stevensite, and an iron silicate clay, which was a synthetic form of nontronite.[7]
References
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