Abstract
In the present work, the structures of a natural hectorite clay pillared with alumina were studied. Frequently, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was added as a pillaring agent to observe structural differences in the calcined products. Series of products were prepared with increasing concentrations of an aluminum chlorohydroxide solution, using various addition orders of the reactants, with and without added PVA. These samples were calcined and analyzed in order to gain a further understanding of the pillaring process. X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, surface area and pore size measurements, and thermogravimetric analyses were performed on all samples after calcination at 500'C. While few apparent structural trends were observed within each preparation series, the inclusion of polyvinyl alcohol produced delaminated mesoporous clays, that under certain reaction conditions showed surface areas as high as 380 m'/g and pore volumes ranging from 0.338 to 0.945 CM3/g.
Kroenig, Andrea N (1997). Structural studies of alumina pillared hectorite using polyvinyl alcohol as a pillaring agent. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1997 -THESIS -K76.