Abstract
Layered nanocomposite, SiO2/TiO2 sol pillared clay, has been prepared by the ion exchange reaction of Na' ion in montmorillonite with positively charged mixed SiO2/TiO2 sol. The nanosized sol particles were synthesized by mixing SiO2 sol solution with TiO2 one, which is obtained by acidic hydrolysis of TEOS and TiCl4, respectively. From powder XRD, the basal spacing (d001) of the sample calcined at 400 ℃ was found to be ca. 60 Å, due to the multistacking of nanosized SiO2 and TiO2 sol particles, which was confirmed by the pore size analysis from 129Xe NMR and micropore analysis calculated from nitrogen adsorption. The BET specific surface area shows the value of 684 m2g-1 (Langmuir 1115 m2g-1), which is the highest among various pillared clays ever reported previously, and the total porosity is found to be 0.51 mlg-1, and the pores are mainly composed of micropore with a size of ca. 11.8 Å. This result agrees with the adsorption capacity obtained from water adsorption. According to diffuse reflectance ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, it is found that the TiO2 particles stabilized in the interlayer space of montmorillonite are quantum-sized of ca. 20 Å.