ADSORPTION OF CYCLOHEXANE AND BENZENE ON MIXED HYDROXIDES AND OXIDES OF MAGNESIUM AND ALUMINIUM

Abstract

Seven mixed hydroxides of magnesium and aluminium were prepared, and phase and structural changes accompanying their dehydration were investigated by differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction techniques. The differential thermal analysis curves possess 2 peaks corresponding to those of parent hydroxides together with a new peak, and the thermogravimetric analysis curves show slight inflections. X-ray diffraction patterns of the mixed hydroxides possess the characteristic lines of the parent hydroxides together with three to five new intense lines which might indicate the formation of a double hydroxide. When the mixed hydroxides are progressively heated they give rise to products possessing patterns which first become diffuse and ultimately pass mainly into the spinel pattern.Adsorption isotherms of cyclohexane and benzene were measured on the mixed hydroxides and their dehydration products. Specific surface areas calculated by the application of the Brunauer, Emmett, Teller (B.E.T.) equation are in general in good agreement for the two adsorbates. The surface area increases with rise of dehydration temperature to a maximum at 500–600 °C and then decreases with further rise in temperature. This behavior is common to crystalline oxide systems and may be ascribed to the intermingling of decomposition, re-crystallization, and sintering processes. Variations in the molecular ratio of the mixed oxides (as much as 20-fold), and in the method of preparation, do not much alter the surface area.