Characterization of Pore Structure and Coordination of Titanium in TiO(2) and SiO(2)-TiO(2) Sol-Pillared Clays

Titania sol-pillared clay (TiO(2) PILC) and silica-titania sol-pillared clay (SiO(2)-TiO(2) PILC) were synthesized by the sol-gel method. Supercritical drying (SCD) and treatment with quaternary ammonium surfactants were used to tailor the pore structure of the resulting clay. It was found that SCD approach increased the external surface area of the PILCs dramatically and that treatment with surfactants could be used to tailor pore size because the mesopore formation in the galleries between the clay layers follows the templating mechanism as observed in the synthesis of MCM-41 materials. Highly mesoporous solids were thus obtained. In calcined TiO(2) PILC, ultrafine crystallites in anatase phase, which are active for photocatalytic oxidation of organics, were observed. In SiO(2)-TiO(2) PILCs and their derivatives, titanium was highly dispersed in the matrix of silica and no crystal phase was observed. The highly dispersed titanium sites are good catalytic centers for selective oxidation of organic compounds. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.