New CLAYTONE-MPQ

New CLAYTONE-MPQ

Tuesday, 10 June, 2025

Broadly speaking, organophilic bentonites are highly popular products. Our CLAYTONE product family covers the full range of polarity (from low to high polarity) ensuring there is a suitable product for every paint and application. Unlike other thickeners (such as organic ones), they never exhibit the “false body” effect and do not require temperature activation.

In addition, at low dosages they deliver a thixotropic profile in single-layer systems, while when used in highly filled primers they exhibit a pseudoplastic behaviour.

Furthermore, on account of their mechanism of action (a three-dimensional “house-of-cards” structure), they have virtually no impact on high-shear viscosity, which is advantageous for all types of applications, including airless systems.

But... what is it that makes CLAYTONE-MPQ so fascinating?

Outside Europe, all clays must be labelled as carcinogenic, Category 1A, due to their quartz content. One might argue whether the proportion of crystalline silica is also respirable, but the fact remains that they are classified with the highest level of carcinogenicity. At BYK we have chosen to launch a single, highly versatile organophilic bentonite (for the entire polarity range) that is entirely free from crystalline silica.

Indeed, this is why we are presenting our new organophilic bentonite: CLAYTONE-MPQ. Owing to a highly exclusive selection of raw materials, we have developed a completely new rheological additive: a product with a particularly broad polarity range that is entirely free from crystalline silica.

Additionally, we have succeeded in addressing the technical Achilles’ heel entailed by many organophilic bentonites: CLAYTONE-MPQ exhibits significantly improved storage stability in two-component epoxy systems.

When comparing the behaviour of three bentonites (one non-polar, one polar, and the new CLAYTONE-MPQ) in an epoxy primer at a dosage of 1.5% on component A, we observe the following: the low-polarity bentonite has virtually no effect; the high-polarity bentonite performs adequately; and, CLAYTONE-MPQ greatly outperforms the others.

In this test, we can see how the high viscosity at low shear rates results in better sag resistance. Wet film thicknesses (WFT) ranging from 50 to 500 μm were applied.

Finally, this comparison clearly shows that while organophilic bentonites in epoxy systems tend to reduce sag resistance after storage, CLAYTONE-MPQ is characterised by significantly enhanced stability.

This may be summarised as follows:

Do not forget that here at Comindex we can support you throughout your process. Do not hesitate to contact our team of technical sales advisors.

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