A novel method of Al-pillared montmorillonite preparation for potential industrial up-scaling

A novel method of preparing Al-pillared montmorillonite has been developed. The process uses a minimum amount of liquid and is simpler to operate than the conventional method of pillaring. Here, the pillaring agent (solid Al13 nitrate) is ground together with the powdered raw montmorillonite (from Wyoming) and dialysed against a limited volume of deionised water. The resultant Al-intercalated clay is heated at 300 °C and characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen sorption, and chemical analysis. The results are compared with those obtained for Al-pillared inter-layered clays (PILC) prepared by conventional procedure. Besides yielding a highly microporous and crystalline products, the new method offers the potential for extension to an industrial-scale process.