Abstract
The silica-pillared H-kenyaites were prepared by interlarmellar base-catalyzed reaction of tetraethylorthosilicate [TEOS, Si(OC2H5)4] intercalated into the interlayer of H-kenyaite. The intercalation of TEOS was conducted by the octylamine preswelling process, resulting in a dramatic increase in gallery height to 24.7 Å. The interlamellar hydrolysis of octylamine-TEOS/H-kenyaite paste were conducted between 10 min and 40 min in 0.00%, 0.05% and 0.10% NH3-water solution respectively, and resulting in siloxane-pillared H-kenyajte with gallery height of 28.2-31.8 Å. The calcination of samples at 538 ℃ resulted in silica-pillared H-kenyaites with a large surface areas between 411 m2/g and 885 m2/g, depending on the aging time and NH3 concentration. Samples with optimum specific surface areas and well ordered-basal spacing were obtained by reaction between 10 min and 40 min in pure water and 0.05% NH3-water solution. Mesoporous samples with narrow pore size distribution were also prepared by reaction for 10-40 min in 0.05% NH3 solution. Rapid interlamellar reaction of TEOS in pure water showed that intercalated octylamine itself could act as a base catalyst during interlamellar polycondensation of TEOS.