Ship-in-bottle synthesis of the mixed-layered compounds of clay silicate/zirconium phosphate

An attempt was made to synthesize artificial mixed-layered compounds between montmorillonite silicate and alpha-zirconium phosphate using a ship-in-bottle approach. The interlayer cations of montmorillonite were first exchanged with hydroxy-zirconium oligomeric cations, which were then subjected to a reaction with phosphoric acid or phenylphosphoric acid to develop alpha-zirconium phosphate layers (Zr(R-OPO3)(2); R = H, C6H5) between the clay silicate layers. The attempt of the reaction with phosphoric acid failed; hydroxy-zirconium cations were removed out of the interlayer space, forming alpha-zirconium phosphate outside of montmorillonite. The phenylphosphate derivative, montmorillonite/Zr(C6H5OPO3)(2), with a regular mixed-layered structure has been successfully obtained, showing a basal spacing corresponding to the sum of the thicknesses of the individual layers. When a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) aqueous solution was used in the preparation of the hydroxy-zirconium exchanged montmorillonite, PVA was incorporated with hydroxy-zirconium complex cations between the silicate layers. The resulting compound can adsorb phosphate ions. Although this is not a mixed-layered compound in the context of this study, the selective and reversible phosphate ion exchange properties are worth noting for future study.