Wet grinding of montmorillonite and its effect on the properties of mesoporous montmorillonite

This research focused on the structural and thermal changes of montmorillonite via mechanochemical treatment, and the effects on the properties of mesoporous montmorillonite were also discussed. X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms, Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), thermal analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to characterize the samples. The results show that montmorillonite has bigger interlayer spacing, better ability of attracting cations into interlayers, and more structural defects. By means of controlling grinding time, the stability of synthesized mesoporous montmorillonite is remarkably enhanced. The optimum grinding time of original montmorillonite is 1 h. Furthermore, structural analysis indicates that the stability of resultant mesoporous montmorillonite depends on the stability of montmorillonite in pore wall.