Synthesis and Characterization of Al-Pillared Bentonite Clay Minerals

Aluminum pillared material was synthesized from natural bentonite mineral using Al(NO)3.9H2O) solution as pillaring agent. The pillared products were characterized using X-Ray powder Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy and surface area-pore volume measurements. The d-spacing for the intercalated and pillared bentonites is 13.0 and 18.0 , respectively. The intensity of the bands assigned to Si-O and Al-O framework vibrations were slightly reduced on pillaring. The decrease in intensity is due to the process of dehydration and dehydroxylation involved during pillaring. The specific surface areas of pillared and unpillared bentonite are 49.86 and 29.99 m g-2, respectively. These fundamental results are of importance in developing novel heterogeneous catalysts and adsorbents.