POROUS STRUCTURE OF PILLARED CLAYS - II - MONTMORILLONITE PILLARED WITH TITANIUM-DIOXIDE

A possibility of regulation of the porous structure of montmorillonite pillared with titanium dioxide by changing the density of oxide pilla rs introduced in the interlayer space of the clay mineral was investig ated. Adsorption of nitrogen and benzene vapor on the samples of the p illared clay with different TiO2 loading was studied. The applicabilit y of a number of methods used for processing the results of adsorption measurements with the purpose to estimate the parameters of the porou s structure of montmorillonite pillared with TiO2 was analyzed. The sp ecific surface area and pore size for this material can be varied in w ide ranges by changing the loading of the pillaring phase. The use of the alpha(s) method and a new method proposed by Vansant allowed one t o determine the parameters of the microporous structure with a higher reliability than the application of the Dubinin-Radushkevich equation did. A possible reason for this is the presence of a substantial numbe r of supermicropores and mesopores in the structure of montmorillonite pillared with TiO2.