Al30-PILLARED MONTMORILLONITE WITH ENHANCED TEXTURAL PROPERTIES DUE TO PRELIMINARY MECHANICAL TREATMENT

Abstract

The effect of mechanical treatment of natural montmorillonite in a planetary-centrifugal mill on the efficiency of intercalating aluminum polyhydroxocomplexes [Al30O8(OH)56(H2O)26]18+ in the formation of pillared structures was studied. Measurements made using the photometry method showed that in the montmorillonite matrix, after intercalation of the Al30 polyhydroxocomplexes using mechanical treatment, an increase in the content of Al3+ cations by 13% was observed. According to the electrophoretic light scattering data, the particle size for the suspension of mechanically activated montmorillonite dispersed in water was about 100 nm. The raw, mechanically activated and pillared montmorillonites are characterized by the methods of low-angle X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption. It was shown that preliminary mechanical activation of the initial substrate increases the basal distance d001 and significantly (approximately by 45–50%) increases the specific surface area and the total pore volume of Al30-pillared montmorillonite; in this case, both meso- and microporosity increase, and the pore size decreases by about 12%. The special importance of the size of montmorillonite particles during the intercalation and further formation of the pillared structure is shown. А decrease in the size of the montmorillonite particles during mechanical treatment increasing the area of the interphase boundary through which ion exchange takes place. It was shown that the small sizes of tactoids (about 100 nm) in an aqueous suspension play a key role in increasing the cation exchange capacity of mechanically activated montmorillonite. To a lesser extent, the efficiency of intercalation is influenced by the processes of defect formation and the related changes in the electrical properties of the silicate layers of montmorillonite. Based on the structural properties, the obtained pillared materials can be recommended for use as selective adsorbents, molecular sieves and catalysts.