Grafting of montmorillonite with different functional silanes via two different reaction systems

Silane grafted montmorillonites were synthesized by using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and trimethylchlorosilane via two different grafting reaction systems: (a) ethanol-water mixture and (b) vapor of silane. The resulting products were investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). XRD patterns demonstrate that silane was intercalated into the montmorillonite gallery, as indicated by the increase of the basal spacing. The product prepared by vapor deposition has a larger basal spacing than that obtained from solution, due to the different extent of silane hydrolysis in various grafting systems. TGA curves indicate that the methyl groups penetrate into the siloxane clay are the primary reason for the decrease of the dehydroxylation temperature of the grafted products. 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane in the grafted montmorillonite adopts a bilayer arrangement while trimethylchlorosilane adopts a monolayer arrangement within the clay gallery.