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Nontronite samples pillared with aluminium (Pt/Al-PilM) and aluminium-lanthanum (Pt/AlLa-PilM) were prepared from natural nontronite, characterized and tested as catalyst in n-octane hydroisomerization reaction. The results were compared with those obtained from the same reaction using commercial Y-zeolite impregnated with platinum (Pt-Y). Experiments with commercial zeolite show that platinum is essential to maintain the reactional selectivity of the products. The conversion capacities of (Pt/AlPilM) and (Pt/AlLa-PilM) were 70% and 40%, respectively, surpassing the Pt-Y performance of 30%, but with the same selectivity. X-ray diffraction data show that organic matter oxidation followed by cationic homogenization is of paramount importance for pillared clay preparation. Keywords: pillared nontronite, aluminium-lanthanum pillars, n-octane isomerization, platinum impregnation. (Pt/Al-PilM) Resumo Amostras de nontronita pilarizadas com alumínio (Pt/Al-PilM) e alumínio-lantânio (Pt/AlLa-PilM) foram preparadas a partir de nontronita natural, caracterizadas e testadas como catalisador na reação de hidroisomerização do n-octano. Os resultados foram comparados com os obtidos da mesma reação, usando zeólita Y comercial impregnada com platina (Pt-Y). Experimentos com zeólita comercial mostraram que a platina é essencial para manter a seletividade reacional dos produtos. A capacidade de conversão das amostras