Hydrophobic mineral insulating materials

A method for hydrophobicizing mineral insulants, the method comprising:

• a) providing an aqueous emulsion including at least one amino-functional organosilicon compound having an amine number in the range from 0.05 to 0.40, the aqueous emulsion having a pH in the range of 4 to 6;
• b) contacting a mineral insulating material with an emulsion of (a);
• and
• c) drying after contacting in step b) to form a mineral insulant;
• wherein the at least one amino-functional organosilicon compound includes a compound represented by formula (I):
• (SiO4/2)a(R1SiO3/2)b(R2SiO3/2)b′(R12SiO2/2)c(R1R2SiO2/2)c′(R22SiO2/2)c″(R13SiO1/2)d)R12R2SiO1/2)d′(R1R22SiO1/2)d″(R23SiO1/2)d′″ (I),
• wherein b and b′ are 0, and a, c, c′, c″, d, d′, d″ and d′″ indicate the number of the respective siloxane unit in the compound, and independent of one another are an integer in the range from 0 to 100,000, the sum of a, c, c′, c″, d, d′, d″, d′″ is at least 2, and at least one of c′, c″, d′, d″ or d′″ is other than 0;
• and radicals R1, independent of one another, are each a C1-C18 hydrocarbon radical which is unsubstituted or substituted by at least one fluorine, chlorine or bromine atom or by a C1-C5 alkoxy group, and in which the radicals R2 are a group of the general formula (II):
• —R—[NR′(CH2)n]aN(R′)2 (II),
• where n is 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6;
• a is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4;
• R is a divalent, linear, unbranched or branched C1-C18-hydrocarbon radical, the radicals R′, independent of one another, are selected from the group consisting of (i) hydrogen, (ii) a C1-C18 hydrocarbon radical which is unsubstituted or substituted by at least one fluorine, chlorine or bromine atom or by a hydroxyl group or by a C1-C5 alkoxy group, and (iii) a C1-C18 acyl radical which is unsubstituted or substituted by at least one fluorine, chlorine or bromine atom or by a hydroxyl group or by a C1-C5 alkoxy group.