MOLECULAR RECOGNITION BY NA-LOADED ALUMINA PILLARED CLAY

Varying amounts of Na ions have been loaded to alumina pillared montmo rillonite by dispersing it into an NaNO3 solution, followed by titrati on with NaOH. The amount of Na ions loaded increased with the pH of th e dispersion. As the amount of Na increased, nitrogen adsorption capac ity decreased, but the total amount of water adsorption increased. Xyl ene uptake by the pillared clay decreased in a different manner for th e p- and m-isomers as the amount of Na increased, and the uptake ratio of the p- to m-isomers (p/m) had a maximum of ca. 2 for the sample wi th 0.066 mmol of Na g(-1). This finding suggested that the molecular r ecognition properties of the interlayer micropores of the pillared cla y can be finely tuned by controlling the amount of Na ions.