Dye/Clay intercalated nanopigments using commercially available non-ionic dye

Two non-ionic azo dyes: solvent yellow 14 (SY14) and solvent red 24 (SR24), and one non-ionic disperse dye: dispersed red 60 (DR60) were chemically modified into their respective cationic species, which were then subsequently ion-exchanged with Naþ-montmorillonite in an acidic medium. The dyeintercalated montmorillonite was then centrifuged, dried and milled to prepare the pigment particles. X-ray diffraction studies on the pigments showed an increase in the basal spacing in the clay layers for the SY14 and DR60 based pigments NP14 and NP60 respectively, confirming intercalation of the dyes within the clay layers giving rise to a nano-structured system.