Zr-PILLARED MONTMORILLONITE CLAY AS HOST TO IONIC LIQUIDS FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

Abstract

Zirconium-pillared montmorillonite was prepared in this work. Many methods, such as dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and zeta potential (ζ) techniques, have been used to characterize clays and study particle size distribution and thermal behaviour. In addition, experimental conditions, including pH were evaluated. The montmorillonite powder was found to have a narrow particle size distribution with a peak at 147 nm, in addition, the pillared montmorillonite was negatively charged even at pH 3, and the strong negative surface charge of montmorillonite indicated that this clay can effectively remove organic molecule in water. The FT-IR analysis revealed that the pillaring with Zr did not destroy the initial structure of the sodium bentonite, and some characteristic bands of the intercalating agents appear. To obtain information on thermal stability and degradation products, the thermal properties of inorganics were investigated. These thermal measurements indicate that they inorganically display two distinct regions: (I) from RT to 173 0C corresponding to physical adsorption and removal of water of hydration, (II) dihydroxylation of the silicate structure in the temperature range of 300–800 0C. Adsorption isotherms displayed that the maximum adsorption capacity of Mt-Na and PMt-Na, according to the Langmuir model, were 54.77 mg/g and 22.70 mg/g, respectively.