Short-Chain alkylammonium montmorillonites and alcohols: gas adsorption and immersional wetting

Abstract

AbstractShort-chain alkylammonium derivatives of montmorillonite (< 8 or 10 C atoms in the alkyl chain) adsorb alcohols in the micropores between the alkylammonium ions. The external surface area and the micropore volume are derived from comparison plots of ethanol and butanol adsorption isotherms. The micropore volume varies between ∼0 (decylammonium derivative) and 100µl/g (methylammonium derivative); the external surface area determined by ethanol and butanol gas adsorption is about 50 m2/g, and is almost independent of the alkyl chain length. In contact with the alcohols, the alkylammonium ions in the interlayer space remain in h1 or h2 arrangement (monolayers or bilayers of flat-lying alkylammonium ions); on the external surface they move into an upward position. The heat of immersion decreases strongly with increasing alkyl chain length to a minimum for decylammonium ions, the variation being very similar for ethanol, butanol, hexanol, octanol and decanol. Immersion in ethanol increases the external surface area at the expense of the internal surface area. In butanol and longer alcohols this area remains unchanged. The increase of the external surface is related mainly to changes in the less ordered regions around the core of the crystals which consists of coherent silicate layers. The heat of wetting is ∼ 110 mJ/m2 (external and internal surfaces). The integral enthalpy of adsorption of butanol, 40–50 kJ/mol, is independent of the alkyl chain length (nc ≤ 8).