Test Reagent: Bentonite

Swelling Index

A. Test Procedure (United States Pharmacopeia 41 and the National Formulary 36)

1. Place 100mL water in a 100mL sedimentation flask.

2. Add 2g bentonite in 20 portions (0.1g per portion) at 2 minute intervals, carefully dropping it upon the
surface of the water, and allowing each portion to settle before the addition of the next portion

until all the bentonite powder is consumed. The addition of each increment must be over the whole
surface of the water and must take at least 30 secs to perform.

3. Take note of the initial level of the bentonite powder in water.

4. Observe and record the increase in volume of bentonite in water every 15 minutes for 2 hours and
after 24 hours (after last pouring).

5. Plot the increase in volume of bentonite in water versus time.

B. Acceptance Criteria (Theoretical) (United States Pharmacopeia 41 and the National Formulary 36)

The mass at the bottom of the flask gradually swells until it occupies an apparent volume of NOT LESS
THAN 24 mL at the end of a 2hr period.

C. Principle Involved

As bentonite is a colloidal hydrated aluminum silicate which is used as a stabilizing and suspending agent
in a calamine topical suspension, it is important to test for its swelling capacity to ensure optimal results
for its role in the suspension.

The Swell Index test has not been demonstrated to have a proportional correlation to hydraulic
properties but a high swell indicates a good bentonite quality. According to Sridhan et al. (1986) and
Tang et al. (2011) the swelling pressure, which is determined in a laboratory, can be affected by
numerous factors: one is the initial dry density and water content of the component. The higher the
initial dry density, the higher the swelling pressure. Also the composition of the saturating solvent itself
may also affect the swelling capacity of the bentonite. The swelling capacity decreases with the increase
in salinity of saturating fluid, although this becomes negligible as solvent densities increase (Pusch, 1980;
Sugita et al., 2003; Karnland et al., 2005; Castellanos et al., 2008; Siddiqua et al., 2011). Moreover,
studies on the swelling behavior of bentonite show that the swelling potential may decrease with time
due to the rearrangement of clay particles with time (Nalzeny et al., 1967; Day et al., 1994; Subba Rao et
al., 2003; Delage et al., 2006).

D. Actual Result
 Figure 1. Swelling power of bentonite (Volume vs. Time)
10
9
8
7
Volume (mL)

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 1440
Time (min)

Sample A (BENT72879) Sample B (BENT11337)

E. Remarks

Given the acceptance criteria of bentonite, and the results of the experiment, we therefore deem the
given samples as of low quality and undesirable as components for the concoction of calamine topical
suspension.

References:

Castellanos, E., Villar, M.V., Romero, E., Lloret, A., Gens, A. (2008). Chemical impact on
the hydro-mechanical behavior of high-density febex bentonite. Physics and
Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, 33(Supplement 1): pp S516 – S526.

Day, R.W. (1994). Swell-shrink behavior of expansive compacted clay. J. Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE
120, 461 No. 3. pp 618–623.

Delage, P., Marcial, D., Cui, Y.J., and Ruiz, X. (2006). Ageing effects in a compacted bentonite: a
microstructure approach. Geotechnique, 56(5): pp 291–304.

Karnland, O., Muurinen, A., Karlsson, F. (2005). bentonite swelling pressure in NaCl solutions-
Experimentally determined data and model calculations. Advances in Understanding Engineering
Clay Barriers. p 241.

Nalezny, C. L. & Li, M. C. (1967). Effects of soil moisture and thixotropic hardening on the swell behavior
of compacted expansive soils. Highway Res. Rec. Washington, DC: Highway Research Board. No.
209.

Pusch, R. (1980). Swelling pressure of highly compacted bentonite. SKBF/KBS technical report: No.80-13.
Siddiqua, S.; Blatz, J. & Siemens, G. (2011). Evaluation of the impact of pore fluid chemistry on the
hydromechanical behavior of clay-based sealing materials. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, NRC
Research Press, pp 48, 199-213.

Sridharan, A., Rao, S., Sivapullaiah, P.V. (1986). Swelling pressure of clays. ASTM geotechnical testing
journal, 9(1): pp 24–33.

Subba Rao, K. S. & Tripathy, S. (2003). Effect of aging on swelling and swell-shrink behavior of a
compacted expansive soil. ASTM Geotech. Test. J. 26, No. 1, pp 36–46.

Sugita, Y., Chijimatsu, M., and Suzuki, H. (2005). Fundamental properties of bentonite pellet for
prototype repository project. Advances in Understanding Engineering Clay Barriers, p 293.

Tang, C.S., Tang, A.M., Cui, Y.J., Delage, P., Schroeder, C., De Laure, E. (2011). Investigating the swelling
pressure of compacted crushed-callovo-oxfordian argillite. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth.
(accepted)

United States Pharmacopoeial Convention. (2018). United States Pharmacopoeia 41st Revision and
National Formulary 36th Edition. USPCI. pp. 1705, 1706