Uses: Bitumens, tile adhesives, mortars, gypsum plaster, foundry coatings, emulsion paints, fertilisers and drilling muds.

Sepiolite is a natural hydrous magnesium silicate.  A clay mineral, structurally it consists of two sheets of SiO₄ tetrahedra bonded via oxygen atoms to a central sheet of octahedrally arranged magnesium atoms.

Sepiolite has internal channels called “zeolitic channels” which run the length of its structure and open via pores of varying shapes and dimensions at the surface.  Along the edges of the tetrahedral sheets are silanol (SiOH) groups which can readily hydrogen bond with water and other polar molecules.  The magnesium layer also provides adsorption sites.   

A highly porous mineral with low bulk density, sepiolite is an effective absorbent.  At the same time, due to its rigid structure, sepiolite will not swell in the presence of water or other liquids.

An approximate empirical formula for sepiolite is:

Si₁₂Mg₈O₃₀(OH)₄(OH₂)₄.8H₂0

Sepiolite powder is available from stock and other grades are available by special order.

For further information please contact us.