Elise Marucchi-Soos

Controlling the chemistry of the micropore volume in pillared clays and micas

Pillared clays are microporous materials formed by propping apart clay layers with robust inorganic polyoxocations. The chemistry of the micropore space can be tailored by choosing suitable pillaring species, by adding various functionality to the pillar surfaces, and by incorporating small metal particles within the micropores. We have found that by using a commercially available zirconyl acetate solution as the zirconia polyoxocation precursor, zirconia-pillared micas with superior properties of crystallinity and microporosity can be produced. Catalytic tests have shown that treatment of a zirconia-pillared montmorillonite with sulfate increases the acid site strength and density of the zirconia pillars. In addition to materials with enhanced acidity, it is desirable to produce materials with little or no acidity for use as metal supports for catalysts in applications such as light alkane dehydrogenation, where support acidity leads to undesirable side reactions. Tetrasilicic fluoromica can be pillared by silsesquioxane oligimers derived from the in situ hydrolysis of an aminosiloxane reagent. After a two step calcination, the silica-pillared fluoromica produced has a high surface area and crystallinity, and the combination of the inert fluoromica layers with the non-acidic silica pillars makes this new material an interesting nonacidic support for noble metal catalysts.