Preparation and characterization of titania-pillared montmorillonite

In this work, a Ti-pillared montmorillonite with high thermal stability has been prepared by using a Na-montmorillonite as the host clay and polyhydroxy-titania ions as the pillaring precursor. The formation of Ti-pillared montmorillonite has been confirmed from the characterizations through X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric differential scanning calorimeter, and specific surface area analyses. In the preparation of Ti-pillared montmorillonite several parameters, such as the type of solvent in which the synthesis is realized, the ratio of polyhydroxy-titania ions and montmorillonite, the intercalation time, the calcining temperature, and calcining time, were tested to understand their effects on the basal spacing. It was shown that this method could produce a Ti-pillared montmorillonite with the basal spacing of 3.74 nm, specific surface area of 409 m(2)/g, and mean pore size of 2.94 nm, as well as a high thermal stability up to 900 degrees C.